BREAKING—We are out of vaccine reserves! Trump HHS Sec Azar announced this week that the govt would begin releasing #COVID19 vaccine doses held in reserve for 2nd shots—but no such reserve existed!! Trump HHS had already shipped out reserves end of Dec! washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01…
2) “Now, state and local officials across the country are realizing their limited vaccine supply will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding access for millions of people.”
3) “Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others are still in the dark.
4) “Because both of the vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are two-dose regimens, the Trump administration’s initial policy was to hold back second doses to protect against the possibility of manufacturing disruptions.
5) “But that approach shifted in recent weeks, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The result is that next week’s allocations will remain flat.
6) “Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s initiative to speed the development of vaccines and therapeutics, stopped stockpiling second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of last year, instead taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line.” 🔥
7) “The last shots held in reserve of Moderna’s supply, meanwhile, began shipping out over the weekend.”
Basically we’ve already blown thru all reserves!!! @ashishkjha and @ArthurCaplan warned this is risky.
8) don’t forget, Trump WH previously turned down 100 million more Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine doses! It went to EU instead - they snatched it up when Trump HHS declined it.
➡️Warp Speed leaders waited >2 months to approve a plan to distribute & administer vaccines proposed by U.S. health officials leaving states with little time to implement a mass-vaccination campaign amid #COVID19 surge. wsj.com/articles/covid…
10) ...”CDC had wanted to start helping states plan in June how to get people vaccinated. But OWS rebuffed plan for distributing vaccines. They adopted similar plan in Aug only after exploring other options—then held release of CDC’s playbook for 2 weeks for additional clearance”
11) Oregon Governor also confirms the same crisis now. There are no more extra supply of increased vaccine doses able to be shipped from reserves that was promised by Trump HHS. OWS is on empty on reserves.
“Operation Warp Speed has asked us to start shipping second doses only **recently**. As a result, we have on hand all the 2nd doses of previous shipments to US.”
13) Oregon Governor doubles down. She is sure of something weird with the inability to deploy any vaccine reserves. The Pfizer statement reads very oddly.
Reminder—Trump had expressed executing people on many occasions while President, according to his own Attorney General. Now the Supreme Court has green lit any official act with full presidential immunity. Germany did the same in 1933. It turned out great.
2) If we ignore history, we are bound to repeat it. How Germany became Nazi Germany in 1933….
📍 The New York Times Is Failing Its Readers Badly on Covid
📌“Example of ‘science opinion’ run amok in the [NY Times] is a piece… by Zeynep Tufekci, a commentator with no training in biological science or epidemiology… ➡️Tufekci plays into the hands of the anti-science politicians who now seek vengeance on the flimsiest of grounds.”
2) “Tufekci also adds to the ongoing pile-on about whether the directive to maintain a distance of six feet from others was needed. Although the precise distance was indeed somewhat arbitrary, there was no possibility of obtaining hard data in the relevant time frame. The six-foot distance was a reasonable assumption based on public health history, and the practice of social distancing for other respiratory pathogens, particularly those spread by droplets. It was also adopted in multiple other countries, for the same reasons.”
3) “The problem here isn’t that Tufekci is questioning the evidentiary basis of the six-foot rule—science and public health cannot progress if we don’t evaluate the results of our work. But that progress is more effective when grounded in good-faith inquiry, rather than the kinds of attacks Tufekci levels against government scientists for doing their best in desperate circumstances. This only serves to bolster the forces who seek to destroy the US public health infrastructure, not make it better.
Tufekci also leaves the impression that she alone realized SARS-CoV-2 was airborne early on. In fact, the debate about transmission was fast and furious within the scientific community at that time”
⚠️Whooping cough has smashed all records in UK🇬🇧 with barely any serious govt actions. These are NEW CASES PER WEEK, not cumulative. Each week smashing previous. Other countries rising too amid anti-vax. Pertussis is also airborne!
3) Whooping cough is also extremely contagious. For up to 3 weeks. With UK govt advising staying home for 3 full weeks if no antibiotic treatment. How many people being told that and doing that?
⚠️SURGING COVID cases & hospitalizations in Madrid, Spain🇪🇸—hospitalizations for COVID has now exceeded also 2022-2023. This is the globally surging KP3 variant (US too)—it is highly evasive against past immunity—you’re not immune. Take preventive action. comunidad.madrid/sites/default/…
2) New York City’s COVID cases are also increasing, as noted by @emmagf. June is not normal cold and flu season at all. This shows that this KP3 surging despite non-flu season means it’s a troublemaker.
@emmagf 3) Hawaii’s ERs also have gotten slammed hard by an off-season COVID surge. This isn’t normal at all for June. This is why we need to be on alert.
📍Breaking—MASK BAN PASSED AGAIN—North Carolina Republicans have again voted to pass a new ban on mask wearing. Only a weak partial medical exemption added for PUBLIC areas—but, on private properties, like at grocery stores or at a workplace, the bill now says people can still be “REQUIRED TO REMOVE MASKS” if demanded by employer or owner (your health be damned). But, thank goodness Halloween masks will still be allowed. motherjones.com/politics/2024/…
2) “Many healthcare professionals have expressed concerns that their patients would not be able to stay safe against the spread of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.”
3) the scary thing is that “The bill, which was drafted in response to people wearing masks at Pro-Palestinian protests, can be passed by the General Assembly **even if Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoes** it through an override.”