The pandemic is at its worst and still worsening.

The number of new cases each day keeps surpassing prior all-time highs.

The number of deaths each day keeps surpassing prior all-time highs.

There's a new super-infectious strain of the virus.
People are exhausted.

People are without paychecks.

People are facing evictions.
There is a dream of quickly vaccinating our way out of this but we're failing to produce and distribute the vaccine fast enough.

Like, we're really, really far behind the pace that's needed.
Our political leaders are failing to take public health seriously.

Our religious leaders are failing to take public health seriously.

Our medical leaders are failing to take public health seriously.
And our public health leaders are failing to take politics seriously.

(Who in public health is asking: What is power? Who has it? How can we get the power we need? What are the tools of power-building? Who is good at it? How can we work with them?)
Brutal truth: For the public health policies and systems we need for the current moment – the kinds that can stop viral transmission and prevent mass death – there is no one leading or organizing on any scale or with any degree of intensity that is even close to what's needed.
Brutal truth: If we continue to fail so badly at confronting this pandemic, we may face 1,000,000 dead, our lives dominated by this for 2 years, and an economic depression that lasts a decade.
Our current trajectory is continued failure, a humanitarian catastrophe.

But it does not have to be.
We can get more vaccine produced.

We can get more vaccine distributed.

We can get more closures of spaces that accelerate transmission.

We can get more places with mask mandates.
We can get more public communication inspiring and educating people to use masks and keep distance and reduce interactions across households.

We can get survival checks.

We can get test results back within 24 hours.

We can get more funding to local public health departments.
We can prevent mass death and mass evictions and mass restrictions and mass stress.
We just need political leaders to fight for these things.

We just need unions, churches, and businesses to fight for these things.

We just need ordinary people to fight for these things.
If we do these things we will save hundreds of thousands of lives and we will free ourselves from the soul-crushing restrictions, fear, heartache, exhaustion, and economic devastation of this pandemic.
Please, I know you're tired but we need you, we need each other. Please, be outraged. Please, commit to action. Please, take some initiative. Please, invite others to join with you.
We need everyone stepping up to get us off our current failed path and onto one where we all can thrive.

Fight now so we can thrive sooner.

Let's not linger in this hellscape.

We all deserve to thrive, and we all just have own making it happen. Please do your part.

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More from @AndrewMakeTweet

3 Jan
We're spreading COVID-19 too fast.

We're vaccinating too slow.

The US's public health failures may kill 1,000,000 people...
Unless we take dramatic action, we're on pace to have more than 100,000 people die this month alone...

These are projected deaths under different scenarios.

Not sure how much they include:
– New and more infectious strain
– Major socializing events e.g. Super Bowl
– Changing patterns of mask use/distancing/staying home as people fatigue

covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-…
Read 4 tweets
2 Jan
Thread trying for some nuance re: #ForceTheVote for #MedicareForAll

1) It is immoral and urgent that people are not getting healthcare they need and deserve.
2) It is immoral and urgent that the current system causes so much financial and psychological stress to people who just want healthcare.
3) It is heinous that Wall Street, pharma, insurers, for-profit hospitals, non-profit hospitals, rightwing politicians, and "moderate" plutocratic politicians fight #MedicareForAll, allowing ongoing mass death and mass suffering from preventable illness and financial toxicity.
Read 14 tweets
22 Dec 20
Mini-thread on "vaccine escape mutants" and public health as a global common good. 1/
Viral mutation can lead to variants that "escape" vaccines.

High infection rates enable mutations. 2/
We don't know of any variants that can escape the vaccines (yet).

But we do have many places with the kind of high infection rates that enable mutations. 3/
Read 5 tweets
21 Dec 20
This is good, but it is really just about emergency out-of-network care, right?

That is far narrower than what most people think of when it comes to the "surprise medical bills" they've received.
What about care that isn't covered that people were never warned about?
What about care that is covered but isn't paid for completely that people were never warned about? E.g. co-insurance payments.
Read 6 tweets
21 Dec 20
Cases and deaths are rising.

But there are also serious consequences of intense social isolation.

I'm hoping we can add a layer of nuance beyond the top line messaging against holiday indoor gatherings and public travel.
Specifically, offering ideas like these:

Gathering among households that are in a strict bubble together.

Gathering across households, outdoors + masked + distanced + warm layers.

Gathering across households, where everyone has done a strict 14+ day isolation period prior.
Those options aren't perfect.

Not everyone can do strict bubbles or strict pre-gathering isolation periods.

School and work and commutes can make them impossible.
Read 5 tweets
20 Dec 20
No.

People shouldn't be shamed away from healthcare because of past behavior.

dw.com/en/anti-vaxxer…
This line of thinking turns into:

"People who ate ice cream shouldn't get insulin"

"People who smoked shouldn't get chemotherapy"

"People who didn't take blood pressure medicines shouldn't get care for heart attacks"
And ultimately it turns into people just accepting that necessary care can be withheld if there's a justification, whether it's patient-blaming or not.
Read 4 tweets

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