COVID Thread 2: Operation Ludicrous Speed ! (Super Political!!!)

[Highland Deac]

We're Guilford and I'm amazed that it's not safe enough to go for classes, but it is safe enough to atten for EoC.

Indeed. What I heard was that since the state mandated EOC testing that the county had no choice but to comply. Some of the teachers I know have been at their schools all this week giving EOCs, but will return to online classes next week. It is bizarre, and just points out the absurdity of testing generally given the current situation. I've read that test scores generally are far lower than normal, even in good schools, which should be no surprise. The new NC Superintendent of Education is apparently a hard-core Trumpite and critic of public schools, so I doubt there will be any grace for schools there. The vote in Guilford to keep middle and high schools online was only 5-4, so it will be interesting to see how the next vote goes in a couple of weeks. Both Wake and Mecklenburg were set to reopen face-to-face up through high school, but changed their minds after looking at the latest covid health data in their counties. Just an awful year to be a student or teacher, really. I can't imagine being a teacher and trying to plan long-term when you don't know if you'll still be virtual or switch to face-to-face every couple of weeks, as that's a pretty big difference, I would think.

 

[WakeForestRanger]

 

[WFFaithful]

News flash: The Trump administration don't give a fuck

 

[06deacon]

I mean it’s beyond DGAF. That’s straight up sand in the gears sabotage.

5 more days. 5 more days. Fuck.

 

[Rafi]

There have been 24,000,000 cases in the US and 400,000 deaths.

There have been 10,000,000 people vaccinated in the US and maybe one death (16 days after vaccination, unclear if it was caused by vaccination).

I think we may have plateaued in regards to hospitalizations in the US.

 

[Liquid Karma]

There have been 24,000,000 cases in the US and 400,000 deaths.

There have been 10,000,000 people vaccinated in the US and maybe one death (16 days after vaccination, unclear if it was caused by vaccination).

I think we may have plateaued in regards to hospitalizations in the US.

The death rate should plummet pretty quickly as the 65+ crowd is vaccinated.

 

[birdman]

A third impeachment?

 

[vtwhat etc]

I'm pretty shocked how long 'the line' is.

I had my 70 year-old father start calling the moment Guilford Co. lowered the eligibility age to 65.

His first shot is scheduled for February 18th.

 

[Rafi]

I'm pretty shocked how long 'the line' is.

I had my 70 year-old father start calling the moment Guilford Co. lowered the eligibility age to 65.

His first shot is scheduled for February 18th.

The demand is massive, but the supply is low and unpredictable.

 

[ChrisL68]

What happened to the huge gamble that Trump made on pre-ordering all this vaccine?

 

[Highland Deac]

This entire administration has been a freaking con job from the beginning. This is what happens when you hire a known scam/bullshit artist and reality-television show star to run your government and nation. And yet most of his followers (many of whom are 65 and older) still adore and worship him, and will gladly vote for him again in four years if they get the chance.

 

[Liquid Karma]

The demand is massive, but the supply is low and unpredictable.

So how is Biden going to close that gap and pull off 100m doses in 100 days? If the supply isn't there what can actually be done?

DPA?

 

[Biff Tannen]

Time to let the free market do its thing.

 

[birdman]

So how is Biden going to close that gap and pull off 100m doses in 100 days? If the supply isn't there what can actually be done?

DPA?

He’s already said he will invoke the DPA to ramp up production of syringes, and other necessary supplies. He’s also said he’ll use FEMA and the national guard to set up vaccination facilities. Maybe Rafi knows more but my understanding is that we don’t yet have a vaccine production shortage, it’s a distribution problem.

 

[DeaconBrews]

I'm pretty shocked how long 'the line' is.

I had my 70 year-old father start calling the moment Guilford Co. lowered the eligibility age to 65.

His first shot is scheduled for February 18th.

I believe that it's better that we have a supply problem rather than a lack of demand one, especially among the older population. We need as many people vaccinated as possible. It's easier to make more vaccines than it is to convince more people to take them, imo.

 

[MichDeac25]

Time to let the free market do its thing.

We need to have states bidding against each other for the vaccine supply!!!

 

[DeaconBrews]

He’s already said he will invoke the DPA to ramp up production of syringes, and other necessary supplies. He’s also said he’ll use FEMA and the national guard to set up vaccination facilities. Maybe Rafi knows more but my understanding is that we don’t yet have a vaccine production shortage, it’s a distribution problem.

The real issue is that states can't plan ahead under the current system because they don't know how many vaccines they will get week-to-week. Also, they have to keep part of their allocation on hand for the second dosage, making this a logistical challenge like never seen before.

 

[Louis Gossett Jr]

Currently it’s a logistics, distribution, and money problem. If that were to be solved it will hit a supply problem in a few months but thats something that can be solved. Like I don’t think people realized until now exactly what the administration did for planning vaccine distribution, about the same for testing, hey states sure you are broke but here’s the vaccine, with a bunch of contractual and other stipulations, enjoy.

 

[DeaconBrews]

Currently it’s a logistics, distribution, and money problem. If that were to be solved it will hit a supply problem in a few months but thats something that can be solved. Like I don’t think people realized until now exactly what the administration did for planning vaccine distribution, about the same for testing, hey states sure you are broke but here’s the vaccine, with a bunch of contractual and other stipulations, enjoy.

I know that both Pfizer and Moderna planned to get us to 200 million doses EACH by July and the current pace is nowhere near that. I've read articles from both that suggest that they are ramping up production, so hopefully that will factor in as well. Between their stated intent to improve production as well as presumed federal assistance I think they'll do it.

There are so many moving targets with this effort that it's hard to forecast too far down the road because there are so many factors that are constantly changing (How many vaccines are being made a week, how many of those vaccines are actually sent to the states, how many people in the approved groups want the vaccines, how many vaccines are being wasted because of the government restrictions, do we have enough people available to administer vaccines to as many people as we could that week, etc)

 

[WRS]

I know that both Pfizer and Moderna planned to get us to 200 million doses EACH by July and the current pace is nowhere near that. I've read articles from both that suggest that they are ramping up production, so hopefully that will factor in as well. Between their stated intent to improve production as well as presumed federal assistance I think they'll do it.

There are so many moving targets with this effort that it's hard to forecast too far down the road because there are so many factors that are constantly changing (How many vaccines are being made a week, how many of those vaccines are actually sent to the states, how many people in the approved groups want the vaccines, how many vaccines are being wasted because of the government restrictions, do we have enough people available to administer vaccines to as many people as we could that week, etc)

I thought the whole point of Warp Speed committing to these huge funding dollars up front was so that the vaccine manufacturers could make a ton of doses before approval. Disappointing that we are still in the “ramp up” phase of production. I’m not very knowledgeable on the specifics though so there could very well be legitimate factors around the delay. Or maybe the distribution is more of the issue.