Richard Wolfe: Trump's lasting legacy will be the near ruination of public health
“The real heroes are the librarians and teachers who at no small risk to themselves refuse to lie down and play dead for censors.”
― Bruce Coville
The onset of COVID-19 brought about two government emergency declarations. The first, establishing a public health emergency, enabled the government to provide many Americans with, among other things, COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines at no charge.
The second, described as a national emergency, allowed the government to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus and support the country's economic, health and welfare systems.
Both emergencies were set to expire on May 11. On April 10, however, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to end the national emergency. Republicans also sought to immediately end the public health emergency, but it will continue until May 11.
Nevertheless, COVID-19 persists, emergency or not. In Michigan, the week ending April 5 had 5,263 new cases reported, 119 new hospitalizations, and 69 deaths. When pondering those 69 unfortunates, bear in mind the death rate for the unvaccinated is four times higher than for vaccinated persons.
Statistical trending indicates that COVID-19 was still the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. through 2022. While absolute numbers have decreased across the board, they also spiked upward when new strains (Delta, Omicron) arose. The expiration of the emergencies will signal a dialing back of direct government support and intervention but preventatives and treatments will still be around. They just won’t be free and may not be in abundant supply.
Paxlovid, the five-day oral treatment regimen taken to prevent high-risk COVID-19 patients from becoming sick enough to be hospitalized, was purchased by the government in bulk (20 million doses) for $530 per course. The market price will be much higher. Rely on it.
Vaccines (and boosters) are relatively easy to manufacture but they have a defined shelf life. Spoilage factors into manufacturing costs. Pfizer’s current vaccine is expected to rise from $30 (government rate) to $120. Demand just now is near zero, but another variant is reported as emergent in India.
[Prospective insurance coverage, if any, for either or both has yet to be determined.]
With that as background, let’s all take a deep breath and then thank those crazy socialist meddlers in our government for creating the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC. The much-maligned but nevertheless wildly essential CDC. But for their good works this country — and perhaps the world — might even now still be in the throes of the pandemic.
A little history.
On July 1, 1946, the Communicable Disease Center (CDC) opened its doors. Its mission was to prevent malaria from spreading across the nation. By 1951, malaria was eradicated from the United States.
Throughout the 1950s, the CDC led the national polio immunization program, initiated rabies control activities, established guidelines for influenza vaccines (anti-vaxxers were uncommon but those few were still considered a dangerous threat to the general public well-being), and expanded research into the identification and treatment of venereal diseases.
Just in the CDC’s first full decade of operation. Since then, the CDC has pioneered research and, perhaps more importantly, real-world operational responses to everything from tuberculosis to HIV/AIDS, to Ebola, to COVID-19.
This recitation could go on much, much further but the reader is recommended to visit the CDC’s history website at cdc.gov/museum/history.htm.
So, the question is begged, who would ever undermine or diminish or attack an organization of such renown?
You know who.
Among other things the disgraced and discarded and thus far only once indicted former president (DADATFOOIFP) left behind as his "legacy" is the near ruination of the most respected medical research and advisory organization on the planet.
On Dec. 9 of last year, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released its final report. It contains evidence on how the DADATFOOIFP worked to:
block the CDC from providing accurate information to the public
install political operatives who sought to downplay the pandemic
attempt to alter and block CDC guidance, scientific studies, and public health orders to serve his perceived political goals
And this is the guy Republicans want to hand the keys back to in 2025.
Terrifying.
— Community Columnist Richard Wolfe is a resident of Park Township. Contact him at wolf86681346@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Richard Wolfe: Trump's legacy will nearly ruining public health
