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Whitney R. Robinson Profile picture
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27 Jan, 7 tweets, 5 min read
🧵Stepping out of my #epitwitter lane to do some armchair health policy

The #1 easy thing Biden admin should do to reduce February’s #COVID19 deaths is dissolve botched nursing home vaccination contract w CVS & Walgreens in states like MS & let states give #LTC vax directly
2/ this article shows where things in MS stood a few weeks ago, and the problem still hasn’t been fixed. Many nursing home residents and staff still waiting on *FIRST* shots!
3/ In comparison, West Virginia, another largely rural state, didn’t enter into the federal-private program with CVS & Walgreens - and its DONE vaccinating in nursing homes. BOTH SHOTS DONE! Over a week ago! And it shows in their overall #COVID19 vax rates
4/ almost 6,000 people in Mississippi confirmed to have died of #COVID19. Almost a third (32%) of those where in long-term care.
5/ While winter surge accelerating deaths outside #LTC, still way too many people dying of ##COVID19 in nursing homes. What would these numbers look like if MS #LTC residents & staff had been vaccinated on pace w WV? How many more people would be alive? wlox.com/2021/01/26/new… Histogram of Covid deaths plotted from March 2020 to January
6/ Fortunately many states are seeing #COVID19 mortality rates drop from staggering highs earlier in month but West Virginia looks to be dropping faster than other states...
7/ By NYTimes interactive data,
West Virginia #COVID19 deaths peaked ~January 11: since then, 7-day average deaths down 40%

Mississippi deaths peaked more recently: down only ~20%.
This botched nursing home/#LTC vaccine rollout has a huge cost google.com/search?q=covid…

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More from @WhitneyEpi

Whitney R. Robinson Profile picture
26 Jan
1/ This is an extremely good write up of a #COVID19 outbreak investigation linked to a wrestling tournament in December
2/ I like that’s it’s specific about what the community transmission rates and testing were in the county where this occurred; conflicts btw different advisory groups re: contact sports & when/how they should take place...
3/ case studies are great illustrations of conditions that mark superspreader events. This Georgia camp example remains my favorite bc they did basically everything you’d do if you wanted to spread #SARSCoV2 as fast as possible among a bunch of kids 🤦🏾‍♀️ cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/6…
Read 5 tweets
Whitney R. Robinson Profile picture
21 Jan
@Justfirenews Not quite. I’m arguing that they did the best that they legally could when constrained by bad policy. These are hard ethical calls. Do you continue working for an org that you think is heading in the wrong direction, or do you try to do your best from inside?
@Justfirenews I think about this a lot. For instance, my university brought back uni students for in-person learning last fall w no surveillance testing or modified housing. I thought that was a reckless decision. But I didn’t quit my job...
@Justfirenews Partially bc the balance of the work my colleagues were doing locally, nationally, & globally was so important and I could support that in a small way. Also income and longterm professional goals that I think will help public health beyond covid.
Read 19 tweets
Whitney R. Robinson Profile picture
21 Jan
A friend works for @HHSGov (agency that houses @CDCgov, #NIH , etc): they got an email from new HHS leadership within minutes after inauguration and CDC all-hands meeting scheduled ASAP.

This is a big deal. This makes me feel hopeful.

#HitTheGroundRunning
#LetsDoThis
2/ I realized yesterday that the public genuinely don’t realize how badly the Trump administration has botched the #COVID19 response. Here’s an example re: their vaccine distribution planning cnn.com/2021/01/21/pol…
3/ I’ve seen lots of pundits criticize public health people & our response to #COVID19. And I thought it was partially trolling/partially willful ignorance...
Read 11 tweets
Whitney R. Robinson Profile picture
18 Jan
1/ Oh, Coretta!

“Coretta Scott King returned to the city where her husband had been assassinated three days after claiming his body. This was truly extraordinary. On a national level, she’s demonstrating that the civil-rights movement would not be deterred by...
2/ “... the death of its leader.

If she could, in the most nascent days of her widowhood, with small children at home mourning the loss of their father, show up to fight, so should everyone else.”
HT @Tiffany_L_Green
3/ This @AlexisCoe interview also reminds us what Dr. King and his family were advocating for in those harrowing days: labor rights - safe, fair working conditions and humane, equitable wages
Read 4 tweets
Whitney R. Robinson Profile picture
18 Jan
1/ I NEED #MLKDay this year

Confession: I’m usually bad at celebrating #MLKDay

Unlike some friends, I don’t volunteer

I don’t re-read key essays or listen to speeches - unless a friend texts me the link right into our group chat (I have good, high-quality friends)
2/ Mostly I just use it as a vacation day and mildly joke with @lriversiii about the bougie lives we have constructed for ourselves and our children (“Was this Dr. King’s dream?” 🤔😏🤷🏾‍♀️)
3/ But I kind of need it this year. I need the model of people like #MLK to show me how to keep hope in the midst of malevolence and violent disregard for the well-being of others.
Read 11 tweets
Whitney R. Robinson Profile picture
17 Jan
Does anyone know details of US fed govt contract w CVS & Walgreens to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff?

Do the companies get paid at actual vaccination, for meeting certain timelines, on a guaranteed contract regardless of vax rate?

How does it work? #COVID19
Y’all are great. Tl;dr - Big pharmacies get vaccine free & responsible for equipment, scheduling, administering & tracking. Paid mostly via insurance just like standard vaccination PLUS $14 extra for dose 1, $28 extra for dose 2. Sounds like no incentives or penalties for speed
But contract details not fully disclosed, it seems. In MS, state considering pulling out bc companies so slow: *1st* doses won’t be finished until MID FEBRUARY! Because they just didn’t hire enough people. Will CVS et al still get paid a minimum if states ends contract early?
Read 4 tweets

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