Fear and Loathing, a Rat Flu Odyssey

[Buzzworthy]

The biggest mistake was society/politicians turning healthcare into a political event.

My wife agrees wholeheartedly. Has definitely made her job more difficult as well.

[PNWbrit]

so we were surely makeing mistakes all over the place.

I laughed.

[Percy Rideout]

Politicians and social divide fucked everything up with covid. It happened during an election year. Probably had a lot to do with it.

It was political from the start with the sacking (forced retirement) of the CDC director Robert Redfield for having the audacity to postulate that a novel coronavirus could emerge from a random corner of the globe where they (we) have a biosafety level 4 lab that literally creates chimeric coronaviruses in the same town.

Then we elevate a guy like Fauci who has a vested interest to convince the world there was no lab leak ($$$$$$$ millions in grant money on the line). The foxes are guarding the henhouses in this situation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64891745

"It was told to me that they wanted a single narrative, and that I obviously had a different point of view," he said. "Science has debate and they squashed any debate." -Robert Redfield

https://www.statnews.com/2022/04/05/...cdc-criticism/

"The Biden administration’s broader decision to run the pandemic response from the White House and not the CDC, Redfield said, only served to disempower Walensky, as did Fauci’s formal elevation to the role of senior medical adviser for pandemic response."

“The CDC director ought to be driving the train,” Redfield said. “I have a lot of respect for Tony Fauci, but my own view is that should be the CDC director. … We ought to let the CDC director be the CDC director and lead the nation’s public health response.”

I would want a thorough postmortem like californiagrown above to potentially improve any future response, but I've resigned to the fact that any future pandemic with a 1% CFR or greater will effectively end civilized society after this fucked experience, and I won't be worried what HHS or CDC says or does at that point anyways.

[MultiVerse]

It was political from the start

Then we elevate a guy like Fauci

It's important to point out that the CDC was already in crisis and Fauci was already elevated under the Trump administration. It's important because both Trump and Biden saw successes and failures. Trump's biggest success and crowning achievement was Operation Warp Speed. Percy, of course, remains a staunch critic of vaccines. Not just mandates, but vaccines themselves.

It's also important to point out, in light of the fact they've become a national issue, that lock downs along with a lot of restrictions were more often than not a state and local policy based on ICU hospital bed availability. The response is an important topic for future pandemics, but what actually happened is too often misremembered as something that happened everywhere to everyone at the same time under the same administration.

[XXX-er]

hadnt " a guy like Fauci " had the job for decades, the head immunologist since 1982 ?

we got them Fauci like guys up here except they are the head women epidemiologists

The whacko nutjobs want to fire and prosecute them for the crimes against Canada they perpetuated 3 yrs ago

[bennymac]

I said many times during the pandemic that I was looking forward to reading the textbook about what went right and what went wrong - but that it wouldn’t come out until 2030 or so

[XXX-er]

How do you get something exactly right when its unprecidented ? I guess you could listen to trump & hope it would disappear or become a nation of bleach-drinkers but I think we could have done a lot worse like America or some of those countries in yurp that put up some high deaths per million of pop.

[MultiVerse]

There is a "National Covid Commission" and a preliminary investigative report available in book form. The TL;DR is vaccines were the main event that worked while just about everything else was a less effective sideshow.

https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Covid.../dp/1541703804

[XXX-er]

There must be a Trump chapter in that ^^ book, the problem as I remember it was Fauci having to deal with Trump,

Trump could have saved many tens of thousands of lives by telling people to get with the program but he stuck his head in sand

[PB]

... because only losers got Covid.
Turns out he was a little bit right.

[old goat]

I don't think we'll ever know for sure what worked and what didn't, other than vaccines, because compliance and enforcement were so scattershot and demographics were so variable. How do you compare a rural county in Wyoming with no restrictions with NYC with its restrictions.

We'll never know if mask mandates worked because most people had shit masks worn improperly. I do believe N95s worked. I went to the dentist after N95s became available. She told me that the ADA was following it and no dentist had become infected. Next time we keep the schools open with N95s for teachers and paid leave for the older ones.

I think we learned we can't depend on China for PPE, other essential goods, or truth.

Maybe next time when the President dumps a bunch of money into the economy to save jobs and prevent a deep recession at the cost of significant but relatively brief inflation, we thank her for it rather than blaming her for it. The US did pretty with regards to infections and deaths compared to a lot of other countries. Economically we did a lot better.

[Danno]

I remember thinking that there would for sure be a commission report in a few years that examined our country's response to covid and would then issue a huge thick post-mortem report outlining what we did right, what we did wrong, what we should do next time, and steps that need to be taken to prepare to handle next time better.

Has that report ever been issued? And if not, why? This seems like one of the more important post-mortem examinations that our country/world should undertake.

The biggest mistake was society/politicians turning healthcare into a political event.

Yeah, given the current polarization/wackiness, even if one were initiated the chances of it actually proceeding to the point of producing anything significant would be slim.

Yep, politicization of a health issue was the problem, and it will be a long time -- if ever -- before we see a real post mortem report. Heck, you don't need to look any further than Percy's post above. Even though Trump was in charge for the first part of our covid response, and to the extent Redfield was "sidelined" that was all on Trump, he somehow takes it all as an opportunity to blame Biden for the politicization. The CDC director is a political appointee that served during a president's term and was often replaced when there was a new president. Yet when Biden replaced Trump's CDC director, suddenly that's politicizing the covid response? Reading Percy's post, you'd be left with the opinion that Trump had nothing to do with the covid response.

[skaredshtles]

Yep, politicization of a health issue was the problem, and it will be a long time -- if ever -- before we see a real post mortem report. Heck, you don't need to look any further than Percy's post above. Even though Trump was in charge for the first part of our covid response, and to the extent Redfield was "sidelined" that was all on Trump, he somehow takes it all as an opportunity to blame Biden for the politicization. The CDC director is a political appointee that served during a president's term and was often replaced when there was a new president. Yet when Biden replaced Trump's CDC director, suddenly that's politicizing the covid response? Reading Percy's post, you'd be left with the opinion that Trump had nothing to do with the covid response.

That's because Asspen is a dolt.

[bennymac]

Asspen can tell us what the blue and red colors mean

[XXX-er]

I don't think we'll ever know for sure what worked and what didn't, other than vaccines, because compliance and enforcement were so scattershot and demographics were so variable. How do you compare a rural county in Wyoming with no restrictions with NYC with its restrictions.

We'll never know if mask mandates worked because most people had shit masks worn improperly. I do believe N95s worked. I went to the dentist after N95s became available. She told me that the ADA was following it and no dentist had become infected. Next time we keep the schools open with N95s for teachers and paid leave for the older ones.

I think we learned we can't depend on China for PPE, other essential goods, or truth.

Maybe next time when the President dumps a bunch of money into the economy to save jobs and prevent a deep recession at the cost of significant but relatively brief inflation, we thank her for it rather than blaming her for it. .

Up here the rural/ religious/ anti vax types trusted god but just in case they would send in somebody to be tested who looked kind of sick and if he was positive they would know they probably all got it

" The US did pretty with regards to infections and deaths compared to a lot of other countries. "

Maybe ^^ compared to countries in yurp that probably HAD as in usedtahave many old people but what kind of figures did you put up compared to a very similar country in the NA market to the narth where they didnt have some idiot ( well maybe a different kind of idiot) running the country who ignored Covid and told people to drink bleach ?

[LongShortLong]

We learned something about lockdowns. All the masking and isolation did eliminate virus.
While moderating Covid, we wiped out the B Yamagata flu virus. Hasn't been seen in the wild since, and it's been dropped from the annual flu vaccine.

[californiagrown]

We learned something about lockdowns. All the masking and isolation did eliminate virus.

Sure, but we should also look at the effect lockdowns had on society so we have a better idea in the future when we benefit from a lockdown vs. when a lockdown might do more harm than the thing we are worried about. Are lockdowns longer than 4 weeks dangerous to parts of society, but 2 week lockdowns have negligible negative impacts? How was the PPP loan program a success, and where did it not work and should be done better next time? Etc, Etc.

[Harry]

I walked over to the Mayo Clinic and I got my annual shots today, flu shot in one arm and Covid shot in the other. Nurse said I was still good on my previous RSV and pneumonia shots.

[m2711c]

didja see dr brody?

[XXX-er]

I walked over to the Mayo Clinic and I got my annual shots today, flu shot in one arm and Covid shot in the other. Nurse said I was still good on my previous RSV and pneumonia shots.

IME you will probably be hurting today but its over in a day

[frorider]

A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board.

Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department.

While policymakers in Texas banned health departments from promoting COVID vaccines and Florida’s surgeon general bucked medical consensus to recommend against the vaccine, governmental bodies across the country haven’t blocked the vaccines outright.

….

[BCMtnHound]

….

The west’s version of an Asian wet market?

[Buzzworthy]

I read that too. Something like on 64 shots given so far anyway in 2024. And less than 1100 given back in 2020. Interesting demographics there.

[jono]

I read that too. Something like on 64 shots given so far anyway in 2024. And less than 1100 given back in 2020. Interesting demographics there.

That health department web page has been directing people to (many) other providers for over a year. It also provides a plain spoken argument for vaccinations. For 64 shots, practicality may have played a role (assuming this site stays up):

https://swdh.id.gov/covid19/#Vaccine

[skaredshtles]

….

Idaho... trying its best to be the dumbest state.