“Nearly 6 million Americans have taken Paxlovid for free, courtesy of the federal government. The Pfizer pill has helped prevent many people infected with COVID-19 from being hospitalized or dying, and it may even reduce the risk of developing long COVID. But the government plans to stop footing the bill within months, and millions of people who are at the highest risk of severe illness and are least able to afford the drug — the uninsured and seniors — may have to pay the full price.” Sacramento Bee.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The pandemic is far from over, China is rioting because the virus is raging and they tried to reimpose hard regulations to save lives and slow the spread.
And America can’t get the Republicans to vote to continue the war against the pandemic. The Pharmacy Companies are now pouncing, jacking up the price of vaccines and innoculatoins to help with surviving the virus.
As it was, the pharmaceutical businesses (plutocrats) could not resist, so they jacked up the prices for the vaccines already, closing us tax payers big time! How many billions did the drug plutocrats invest in their life saving medicine…how many billions have the received already from the government (us)? How many trillions will they realize if we let them charge the full price that they MAKE UP…
Most of the vaccines were invented by a handful of scientists, and the drugs were manufactured by ROBOTS. The digital economy helped invent all of these wonder drugs, at very little relevant cost…
Now they turn around, the very drug companies who killed thousands during the opioid cruise, and profit hoard from all of us!
Folks this is a worldwide crisis, like a war, and requires a marshaling of all resources (and no price gouging). WWII is a good example, the industrial giant of the time (Ford Motors for example) shifted their assembly lines on a dime to make tanks rather than cars. It’s called teamwork between the private and public sector. And the last time I checked, Ford ultimately grew a thousand fold due to their short term “sacrifice” to use thier assembly lines to build tanks and planes!
Not anymore….after a brief time of “reduced” prices, soon everything dealing with the pandemic will see skyrocketed prices.
And the poor and people of color will be priced out of their health! The rich will as usual be first in line to get the virus vaccine.
This is institutionalized racism and prejudice!
I remember Trump, who was swearing the pandemic was a hoax, being returned to the White House after a bout with the virus, almost fell down..but had been given the pills that blunted the virus THAT AT THE TIME WAS NOT AVAILABLE TO ORDINARY PEOPLE. But good ole Donald, who had refused to use laws to drive a nationwide effort to stop the virus…had NO problem getting the life saving drug for himself..
Same old thing plutocrats come first…Since when did we turnover for Richie Rich (look it up)! Thanks to the Great Depression, middle class people did not like he rich!
How much is a human life worth? Apparently not enough!
The ONLY WAY WE ARE GOING TO BEAT THIS THING IS WITH TEAMWORK OF EVERY SECTOR, INCLUDING INDIVIDUALS WHO NEED TO GET THEIR HEADS STRAIGHT AND GET VACCINATED.
EVERY FAMILY I KNOW OF HAS OVER 40% WHO REFUSE TO GET VACCINATED, WHO STILL THINK THE PANDEMIC IS “NOT THAT BAD”.
It is called reality. In 1941 the USA was living in a dream world, with the Nazis about ready to conquer Russia, with China next…and Republicans were leading the charge of isolationism. Again, that, corrupt party is doing the profit making thing!
It is true, that fully vaccinated people, except for seniors with underlying conditions, if they do get a breakthrough do not usually suffer much. The vaccine works to keep people from getting very sick; AS LONG AS THEY HAVE ALL THE VACCINES. That means all of them, with probably more boosters coming, have got to get fully vaccinated..FULLY!
To leave this to private enterprise right now is unbelievable lack of citizenship!
And the pills you now get for free, that treat the symptoms if you are infected, who will protect you from getting sicker, now will cost an arm and a leg…and more poor people will die!
If anyone doesn’t see the racism in this they your are blind!
We actually know all this…but we still tolerate individuals who somehow think they are helping their society, by keeping it sick!
It is like in 1941 we just were gong to ignore Pearl Harbor…
Putin must be licking his chops…the pandemic will render this nation impotent….
What will happen is the same thing that happened in China, in the winter people will stop wearing masks (which is the cheapest way to stay clear of the virus) and congregate with crowds in which over 30% have not been vaccinated or are already sick.
A mask is so easy to wear. It actually helps if you are outside if you have allergies…and a huge pencentage of us are having problems with climate change driven allergies right now..
Wearing a mask outside, especially with a lot of foliage around, will keep your allergy down…and when you go inside, will protect you regardless of your vaccine status.
But NO…it is your Damned right to not wear a mask. It is your god right to not get all the FREE vaccinations.
Once they cost, you will see a real tragedy…AND ALL OF US WILL BE AT RISK, EVEN THE VACCINATED, EVEN THOSE WHO ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING.
It is the SAME THING AS WWII…The allies were as strong as their weakest link…France for example had already lost the war, but some of their army was successful at Dunkirk in getting into Britain. The French Army stayed in England for over two years, and then took place in D Day…And helped win the war…
The war time analogy is credible history…but we refuse to read history!
So far this pandemic has “only” been for about about three years. Comparing it to WWII, that started in 1939, that means 1942 in WWII years.
In 1942 the Axis were winning everywhere. The war was being lost, just like today’s pandemic.
But in 1942 the United States especially, put its industrial machine into overdrive, reacted to Pearl Harbor and dramatically increased its military might, the draft; etc. In 1941 the U.S.A. had 150 thousand in arms, in 1942 that had rising to a least a million and by 1945 many million.
They cared about their country….today we care about how much profit drug companies make.
Write your congressman,throw a fit that, drug companies, who brought you the opioid crisis, who refuses to be regulated and bankrupts poor people all the time who can’t afford their drugs, now leap at the chance to double down on profits and leave our citizenry at the mercy of the worst pandemic in human history. And the victims of this are disproportionately people of color.
This is wrong…so wrong.