How has the Pandemic affected you as a cancer patient/survivor

The U.S. vaccine rollout was a goddamn nightmare. Some states, like the one I'm in, wasted a huge amount of it by sending it all to small red-voting towns (our idiot governor's base) in the early weeks. They expected city residents to drive three or four hours to get vaccines. I know a few people who did that, but it was impossible for any poor people to get to places with no transportation - and the working poor couldn't get an entire day off even if they had a car! When the supply finally came to the cities, it was bungled again, and in locations not well served by public transportation. If you were a registered patient through the hospital system where your PC is on staff, you could get a shot appointment that way, which is what I did. My husband is a state employee and they were given one location about 25 miles from where they work to get shots - and nowhere near public transportation, once again. Finally, months after the first state rollout, they opened vax centers in the city that weren't part of the hospitals. By then, I'm sure there were a lot of people who were completely untrusting of the system that had screwed them on this, as on so many issues over the years. I got my booster in early October at a pharmacy, but it's not the location where I get my prescriptions because they didn't have it - they weren't on the mystery list of approved locations. I have no idea if any of the few pharmacies in the underserved neighborhoods have it, but I'd be surprised if it's easily available. My husband's appointment for a shot was 8:00 on a Sunday night! What if we didn't have a car? I wonder what the total amount of wasted vaccines over the last several months has been, based on how badly the distribution was in just one state. I'm sure we'd have had enough to share with other countries if the states, many with anti-vax governors, hadn't insisted on handling the distribution themselves. It should have been a federal plan, but that would have probably led to a full-out war. This country sucks in so many ways.

I would LOVE for us to have a health system similar to Canada's. It's not perfect, but the access to it seems to not discriminate against the poor like the U.S. systems do. I've been too poor to have insurance many times in my earlier life, and had to do without necessary medical care during those times. It's something that is always on my mind. Even now it's "There but for the grace of Medicare (and Advantage plans)" I'd be without insurance. And like most other things in this country, there's massive waste and no equity in the distribution of care.

Rant over, but not the thoughts that led to it.

Chowdog, I think that Fauci's cluelessness on this is because people at that level don't get feedback from the people at the bottom. He (and others) are mistakenly trusting people high up in the states' distribution chains for information. I wish someone practical and persistent like Amy Klobuchar was involved. She has a knack for sniffing out BS and getting all the facts. All the traits that make her kind of tactless at times politically would be hugely useful on this issue.

There is nothing appalling about Canadian healthcare system, the vast majority of us are quite satisfied with it (despite occasional grumblings). Our vaccine rollout was 2-3 months behind US (due to supply issues), that's why majority of us aren't at the point of needing a booster yet. And government agencies have been very flexible in changing/updating guidelines to accommodate a changing pandemic. We had longer interval between two doses (again, due to early supply issues) which proved to be superior to 3-4 week interval, so we are probably better protected as a population. Next week, Ontario government is opening up to all over 50 who had their 2nd shot over 6 months ago and will be moving to all groups starting in January.

Yes, in a universal healthcare system there is no "I want it all, I want it now" mindset that is so common in private healthcare systems. But this is a trade-off we make for having such an inclusive system which has given us overall great health metrics, both in general health (longer life expectancy for example) and Covid outcomes compared to the US.

As to vaccines for developing countries, I think the logistical obstacles on the ground plus misinformation are far too complex and deep-rooted to be fixed quickly and it's not the responsibility of the rich countries to fix them, even if they could and quite frankly it's a bit paternalistic. These are autonomous nations and have more than capable people to handle the situation and if corruption and greed at the top is the issue, I don't know how it can be helped. Yes, it is an ideal to help where possible and it sucks that all this is prolonging the pandemic and I'm open to practical solutions. From everything I read, there is no supply issues in Africa to the point that some countries are even asking vaccines not to be shipped anymore. Besides, if we look at the stats so far, rich countries had some of the worst outcomes. The number of deaths in Europe and US per capita outnumbers those of developing countries, most likely due to average age. India had a terrible Delta wave, but for a period they, smartly, stopped most of their vaccine export to focus on their own population. Nobody should fault India, US/CAN or Europe for taking care of their people first.

ErenTo,

I absolutely fault the U.S. because they forcefully over-rode the natural production/distribution system of pharmaceutical manufacturers.

As I explained in my September posts, most companies rationalize production; it is often inefficient and costly to produce the same products in every country, so it is normal and commonplace that companies will choose to have manufacturing sites that service several countries. This is the case with the pharmaceutical manufacturers. There are many drugs (most antibiotics, for example) that are not produced at all in the U.S. and Americans are entirely dependent on production from other countries. With Covid-type vaccines, it happens that the U.S. is a prime base for manufacturing. These U.S. sites were set up with the intent and capacity to supply more than the U.S. - other countries like Canada and Mexico (and probably Central America and possibly many other countries) were expected to get their supply from the American sites.

What Trump did, and what Biden continued, was put in place an "America First" policy, which said that U.S. vaccine manufacturers had to fill American orders first. They then flooded Pfizer, Moderna and Astra-Zeneca with more orders than the U.S. could possibly use or the manufacturers could produce. This effectively stopped these companies from shipping any product to any country outside of the U.S., even though they had orders from other countries (such as Canada and Mexico) and even though their American manufacturing sites were set up with the capacity and intent to supply these other countries. The U.S. never even approved the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, which was approved in Canada and Mexico, and yet they placed ordered on AZ and forced them to hold all supply to the point of allowing it to rot (go past expiry code date) on the warehouse floor.

Europe did not do this. At one point the EU considered this, but they quickly decided that it would be the wrong thing to do. And in fact they allowed their manufacturers to supply Canada and other countries that normally would not have been supplied from their production sites, because these countries had been cut off by the U.S.. Early on, realizing what was happening, Pfizer in the EU revamped their manufacturing sites so that they could increase capacity - this is how Canada ended up getting much of our supply from May/June onward. So the EU did exactly the opposite of what the U.S. did - as manufacturing ramped up, they rationed supply out to all countries that needed it. And this is why Canada and most EU countries had "draconian age restrictions" particularly during the late winter/early spring. India did not do this either - not until Delta exploded in India, at a time when supply had already started to ramp up for other countries; what India did at that time was necessary and understandable because they were facing such a massive outbreak.

Pharmaceutical companies are private companies, not owned or run by the government. Their production is not "American supply". I can understand the U.S. government working with these companies to ensure that American orders be filled first, but by dumping so many orders on these companies and forcing them to hold all inventory for the U.S., they went way beyond that - and there is no question that Trump and Biden (particularly Biden, since most of the vaccine production happened after he was in office) knew the effect of what they were doing. I wonder how many people in other countries died because of this "America First" policy?

Whether some States or cities screwed up their vaccine distribution is a totally different issue. The fact is that during late 1Q21 and early 2Q21 the U.S. was flooded with vaccine supply while other countries had minimal supply. Look at the chart that SerenityStat posted above that shows the timing of vaccinations in Canada and the U.S.. It's clear as day what happened. Yes, a country should take care of their own people first. But to do that in such as way as to cause unnecessary harm to the people of other countries, that's unconscionable.

Beesie, I absolutely don't dispute the early supply issues that was caused mostly by the US and I agree with you 100%. I'm specifically talking about later logistical issues on the ground in poorer countries. Not sure how clearer I can be: misinformation and domestic logistical challenges and/or corruption are not West's problem. If a person can't afford to get to the vaccine centre without losing half a day's wage, what is to be done. It's tragic. It's in fact easier to throw vaccine/money at things than fix this type of issue.

Not that I don't want for this pandemic to end (what a thing to insinuate), but we can't wish it away. Of course there are people dedicated in finding solutions, but the issue is not lack of willingness or people who are working hard to end this, it is the complexity and fragility of all the issues combined. I'm not being fatalistic or saying let's just surrender to the circumstances, I'm acknowledging the situation and adjusting my expectations to it. And sometimes the situation we find ourselves in plainly sucks, but I can't find the energy to dwell on the victim/villain mindset. It's exhausting.

Yes, and I am sure they're being given the support they need, where possible. We may not be privy to all the things that go on behind the scenes, and some of them seem to better than Western countries in sequencing variants, despite our claim to greatness. What took US so long to discover their first Omicron cases. And I wish the reactionary governments would reverse the travel ban, what a stupid decision to punish them for doing everyone a service. This in itself is extremely harmful and slows down experts/help getting to the region.

More details

Serenity, it's funny, because I think we disagree very little on this subject, but there are some philosophical differences in our thinking and you don't seem to be very flexible and want to have the final word. No hard feelings, as I think your intentions are noble and I respect our differences and am interested in hearing your point of view even if I disagree with it, but I am no longer willing to continue on this particular topic!

ErenTo, I appreciate the clarification.

I'm not sure where I stand with regard to the poorer countries supply issue. I know that Canada placed orders for a lot of vaccines, many more than we would need, with the specific intent of donating this supply to developing and poor countries. I think that is absolutely the right thing to do, and in a global pandemic, I believe that wealthier countries do have a responsibility to help poorer countries.

Have developing/poor countries received enough supply to meet their roll-out capabilities? In some cases 'yes' and in some cases 'no'. Are there logistical problems on the ground in these countries? In some cases 'yes' and in some cases 'no'. Is corruption hindering vaccine distribution in these countries? In some cases 'yes' and in some cases 'no'.

It's complicated and the information we get is often contradictory. Should developed countries do more? Yes, where it would help. But in some places the problems have to be addressed locally and by locals. There is no one answer to this problem but I know I don't feel comfortable when I see people from rich countries turn away and say "Not my problem". (Not pointing the finger to you - your position is more nuanced.)

ErenTo - I’m sorry. From your post about her helping with the vaccines, I assumed she was there as part of a vaccination campaign (that requires money). I never assumed she was there to get rich herself.

I hope the best for her mother. Wish she didn't have to isolate for so long when vaccinated.

The pandemic definitely showed how terrible many government officials are. The QC government seemed ok at first. I was willing to give them a chance, but they've been making poor choices. They still won't make policies based on the virus being airborne.

Mask wearing differences - Yes! I don't remember the show, but they were in Africa with Jane Goodall. I noticed that everyone was wearing a mask even outdoors. I didn't know if that was required by the show or if it's commonplace. But based on your friend's reaction, it must be commonplace. We still have mask mandates for the most part. I expect QC will drop them once 5-12 are vaccinated. Under 5 and immunocompromised will be on their own.

Yay! I'm boosted! I came in with my DH for his booster and mentioned that I'm booked for Tuesday. Since I'm more than 168 days since my second dose, they offered to do it today. Currently sitting through the 15 minute post-vaccine wait time.

First dose was Astra Zeneca, second was Pfizer and today's booster was full dose Pfizer.

I wonder how long before we get 4th doses? We get flu shots every year so it may be the same thing

can't seem to get the graph to work but here is the link

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/uni...

our covid case curve is going vertical. how's that for a b or c grade? and this is before christmas. I wonder some of you have noticed there was an aggressive push by twitter MDs for off ramp through social media and main stream media opeds -- unmask school children 8 weeks after >5 vaccine approval regardless of kids vaccine uptake. (even the day before omicron was discovered). now: silence, or the usual bs to forget about case count but use hospitalization, a lagging indicator, as the metric for off ramp, or dead virus in the nose, so don't test asymptomatic vaccinated people despite exposure.

there is also this politico article highlighting the logistic shortcomings of oral antiviral, like some of us have discussed.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/04/who-shoul...

there is nothing more wrong than people who are in power and can do something but have chosen not to coz it does not affect them at all.

Here you go. I reduced the range to a year.

Why would you covet something "draconian"?