Here is Dr. Paul Klotman’s Week 150 update on the COVID pandemic. The highlights are:
- The COVID case rate, hospitalization rate and death rate in the US all seem to be stabilizing
- The administration plans to lift the COVID emergency declaration some time this May
- Congressional Republicans have offered an optimistically titled The Pandemic is Over Act bill. Like everything the right does, it is all performance art. The pandemic is over when cases decrease everywhere worldwide – not when some caucus of RWNJs say that it is over. Idiotas!
- The majority of new US cases is occurring in the <5yo age group. This is hardly a surprise.
One thing that Dr. Klotman’s excellent update does not mention is the fact that the CDC has identified COVID as the eighth leading cause of death in children ages 0-19 (during 8/21-7/22). Among adolescents 15-19 years old, COVID was the fifth leading cause of death. For perspective, when I was a medical student in the mid and late 1970s, the leading causes of childhood death were accidents, cancer, poisonings, and among older children, suicide and homicide. Now the leading causes of childhood deaths are gunshot injuries, the traditional leading causes, and COVID. That’s what half a century of medical and social progress will get you. Merde!
The upcoming lifting of the COVID public health emergency means that home COVID tests will no longer be free. Treatment with COVID antivirals like Paxlovid will no longer be free. COVID vaccines, that are likely to become an annual event like Flu shots, will no longer be free. Those who have Medicaid or Medicare, or private insurance will still be able to access these important services for little or no out-of-pocket cost, I expect. The uninsured, legion in states like my idiotic state of Texas, will be fucked, of course. So, consider the confluence of these factors:
- People who are vaccine hesitant regarding their own and their kid’s health
- Vaccine manufacturers whose investors are already licking their chops, “Let’s squeeze this motherfuck*r for all it’s worth”
- A government that no longer indemnifies individuals against COVID diagnosis/treatment expenses for the sake of the health of the general public
What could possibly go wrong? Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as well.
I’m so sad since I learned that the COVID rules or whatever the situation from the Feds is called will soon expire. My heart is heavy. I would give both administrations a “fail”: Trump’s for his lack of serious attention and action when COVID became a national emergency; and Biden’s unfortunately when they seem to be dropping the ball vis a vis poor folks. I suspect we shall see another big surge when funding for preventive services for them are no longer provided free.
I have had serious reactions to the whole ordeals: I still fear going anywhere with more than a handful of people and I always wear a mask (although I have some doubts that it gives me much protection). I have been vaxxed and boosted but I still fear the virus and its mutations. I actually got some counseling to combat my lack of trust in our systems and services.
Thanks for keeping us on the latest. I depend on people in the know that I trust to help me protect myself.
Hope both of you remain safe and well.
We’re both fine, Sharoin. Like you, we avoid crowded places, and we wear our masks in enclosed, public places. Unfortunately, I don’t think that any amount of counseling can dispel my cynicism about our politics and how they have and continue to corrupt our ability to make rational decisions at either a personal or national level. Alas!
I’m so sad since I learned that the COVID rules or whatever the situation from the Feds is called will soon expire. My heart is heavy. I would give both administrations a “fail”: Trump’s for his lack of serious attention and action when COVID became a national emergency; and Biden’s unfortunately when they seem to be dropping the ball vis a vis poor folks. I suspect we shall see another big surge when funding for preventive services for them are no longer provided free.
I have had serious reactions to the whole ordeals: I still fear going anywhere with more than a handful of people and I always wear a mask (although I have some doubts that it gives me much protection). I have been vaxxed and boosted but I still fear the virus and its mutations. I actually got some counseling to combat my lack of trust in our systems and services.
Thanks for keeping us on the latest. I depend on people in the know that I trust to help me protect myself.
Hope both of you remain safe and well.