Operation, What Speed??

"As for you President Biden, if you want your dreadful poll numbers to come back, let me give you a tip. Just do everything that Donald Trump did. On the southern border, the economy, energy, and now - Covid response. Trust me, you do this, and you might even get re-elected." 

I did listen to Slo Joe's coughing fit - I mean speech - yesterday. I almost passed out when I heard him give a minor shout out to Donald Trump. It was indeed a Christmas miracle! In any event, besides castigating the "un-vaxxed" (again), it was all about fixing the Covid testing log jam. It seems that having lines of people, many blocks long, waiting to get tested, some folks feeling sick with Covid symptoms, are not good optics.

Since I don't know the ins and outs of Covid testing, I had to rely on listening to medical professionals once Biden's speech was over. How were his reviews by those who know better? Not good - not good at all. Why? After almost two years of this Covid stuff, we should be awash in testing materials. We should have billions and billions of tests, ready to go. Instead, Biden is tying to get 1/2 billion sometime after the New Year. With that speed of production, we should be calling this "Operation - what speed?"

Here is yet another slant to this issue. One very smart doctor I was listening to, had a very profound observation. Okay, you get tested. With this Omicron variant, if you have been vaxxed and boosted, and then get infected, you have about a 40% chance of being  asymptomatic. Oh yes - there are also still quite a few false positives. Then what? In the NFL, you can't play ball. If enough players can't play ball, you end up with rescheduled games on Monday night and Tuesday night. Or in the NHL, the season goes into a "pause", and then players will not participate in the China Olympic games. 

What then, is the value of testing everyone? How about, if you are feeling "punk", then you go to your doctor and get tested. If you test positive for Covid, your family doc can prescribe the most current therapeutics. Like the new Pfizer pill. That is, if the FDA can get off their butts and get that pill authorized for use. Talk about "Operation - what speed?"!

What have we learned about this virus in the past two years? I think quite a bit. First off, China's hands are VERY dirty in this virus. Be it passively or deliberately, their hands are dirty. Second, next time this happens, we should NOT have to play "catch up football". Our NIH and CDC should have us ready to meet any new virus head on. We should have PPP fully stocked - everywhere. Our hospitals should have adequate rooms and staff to meet any surge, due to any type of outbreak. Right now, our hospitals are a mess, because they have no surge capacity. Our front line workers in hospitals deserve excellent pay and benefits. This needs to be fixed immediately. And if they choose not to be vaxxed - so be it. We should assume they have developed natural immunity. 

One of the things Donald Trump did very well, was to get government OUT OF THE WAY, when facing a medical crisis. We saw this, when he signed in law the "Right to Try" bill. That was a true blessing. Then "Operation Warp Speed". Love it or hate it, it saved hundreds of thousands of lives, all over the world. 

As for you President Biden, if you want your dreadful poll numbers to come back, let me give you a tip. Just do everything that Donald Trump did. On the southern border, the economy, energy, and now - Covid response. Trust me, you do this, and you might even get re-elected.