Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Attleboro, Orange: hotel, home, exemption)

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Fortunately, it's looking like we'll have plenty of vaccine in 3 or 4 months so the rationing issue goes away. I'm no Trump fan but the whole Operation Warp Speed thing did get big pharma to accelerate ramping up production long before their products were approved. I think that by Memorial Day, the country will be benefiting from that.


The take-away from all of this is that the United States is really bad at rationing scarce resources. The other obvious take-away is our public health infrastructure is abysmal.

The advantages of a national health system as in other Western countries, vs. the smorgasbord we have in the US, become self-evident in times of crisis.

[charolastra00]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I don't know of her specifics either. I just know she had childhood leukemia, has a heart issue and her primary care dr told her she can get the vaccine at her next appt in March.

Both my oncologist and my primary care physician are telling me that it will likely be May for me, despite 3 comorbidities.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Both my oncologist and my primary care physician are telling me that it will likely be May for me, despite 3 comorbidities.

Well this woman can be a squeaky wheel so maybe she did some complaining. She managed to get her 1st grader in school 4 days instead of the 2 everyone else was doing because he's on IEP after much advocating.

[charolastra00]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Well this woman can be a squeaky wheel so maybe she did some complaining. She managed to get her 1st grader in school 4 days instead of the 2 everyone else was doing because he's on IEP after much advocating.

It just definitely shows how fragmented the system is. I'm part of a very squeaky group of high-risk people who are trying to get a concrete timeline and it's upsetting that even now, people actively in cancer treatment or within 2 years of treatment don't necessarily have a pathway for vaccination, especially young adults.


I don't blame my doctors at all and I can continue to stay home as long as needed, but with the most contagious variation set to take over in the state, I'm getting extra anxious. It also feels like it's closing in.


Most upsettingly, my 62 year old mother was in close contact with someone who tested positive. She's a nanny/homeschool teacher and while she swears up and down that her employer is taking it seriously, clearly we have different ideas of what that means. Unfortunately, my mom is not in a position to not work and she felt like this was safer (not to mention pays better) than her previous roles of managing a daycare or teaching ESL in public school. The family has been on several out of state vacations since this started, including flights, and they tried to convince my mom to go with them to Puerto Rico next month. The kids have friends over and who knows who strictly those families are isolating. They go to sports and dance class. And this is all in a part of Georgia where masking is seen as "unpatriotic". "But they get their groceries delivered!" In any case, my mom's boss started feeling sick on Friday afternoon shortly after my mom left for the week. They were in the kitchen together for 15 minutes, no masks. Her boss couldn't taste her coffee by morning and felt like she had bronchitis by noon. She was able to get a rapid test on Sunday, and confirmed the positive result this morning. They're waiting for the rest of the family's tests.



Thankfully, my parents haven't yet downsized from when we lived there, so there is enough space that my parents can stay in separate parts of the house and use different bathrooms. They communicate via Alexa, my mom wears a mask in the house, and when she has to go make food, she lysols everything. They're waiting for the results of her test now, though thankfully she feels OK. But she's looking at living like this in her own house for 14 days, even if her test is negative.



I'm just so angry over it. My parents have been super cautious themselves. My dad is diabetic and has kidney disease, so he hasn't been inside with another person besides my mom since early March. No grocery store, no plant nursery, no visiting friends, nothing. They haven't seen their kids or grandkids in almost a year and a half, and now that we're in the final stretch, they have both been exposed by people who have chosen to be more irresponsible knowing they have household help who are at high risk. It's absolutely maddening.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

The advantages of a national health system as in other Western countries, vs. the smorgasbord we have in the US, become self-evident in times of crisis.

Initially I believe that but the fact of the matter is Europe still has the same problems with covid-19. In the UK that is socialized medicine the same as France and Germany and they've all done pretty bad at this. The only Western Nations that I could argue that I've done well with this would be Japan South Korea and Canada.

Is part of who is hurt the most with this those with compromised immune systems which would generally be those that are on medications currently.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Initially I believe that but the fact of the matter is Europe still has the same problems with covid-19. In the UK that is socialized medicine the same as France and Germany and they've all done pretty bad at this. The only Western Nations that I could argue that I've done well with this would be Japan South Korea and Canada.

Is part of who is hurt the most with this those with compromised immune systems which would generally be those that are on medications currently.

Missed the point. I'm talking specifically about vaccine distribution logistics and eligibility. That is infinitely more easy with a national health system. Plus it doesn't help when there was (apparently) no national plan to begin with:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/polit...ump/index.html

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Missed the point. I'm talking specifically about vaccine distribution logistics and eligibility. That is infinitely more easy with a national health system. Plus it doesn't help when there was (apparently) no national plan to begin with:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/polit...ump/index.html

Given that other states that didn't follow the CDC plan completely are doing a better job getting shots in, that's not a bad thing.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Missed the point. I'm talking specifically about vaccine distribution logistics and eligibility. That is infinitely more easy with a national health system. Plus it doesn't help when there was (apparently) no national plan to begin with:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/polit...ump/index.html

The initial readout from the Biden team is that distribution is in total shambles and much worse than they were expecting. There’s obviously some political finger pointing going on but it’s not like anything the Trump administration touched was well managed. The Warp Speed money to big pharma to ramp up production early may turn out to be the best thing Trump did in four years. No business is going to produce mass quantities of a product that they might not be able to sell at all. It probably accelerated things 6 months.

[msRB311]

Well she hasn't received the vaccine as of yet. I guess I'll see if she actually gets it in March but that's what she was told.

[jtolpin]

Something is happenning today:

Massachusetts to lift curfew for restaurants implemented due to rising COVID-19 rates - Baker is talking today