What Have We Learned Since COVID Came to Live With Us….
And what is the one question we still need answered
Here we are, soon to be at the two-year mark since COVID came to live with us. I can’t help but think about what we, collectively, have learned since the pandemic started.
Clearly, we have made so many missteps along the way. Part of that was/is because we are seeing science unfold before our very eyes. And for the general public, they are learning that medicine is not a field where each step forward is like going up a mountain; on the contrary, medicine is messy, with lots of controversy and where what appears to be a step forward is really several steps backwards.
Why does this happen? Often times it is because we misinterpret data, data that is imperfect to start with and as a consequence will lead to false conclusions.
But in addition to that there have been a number of mistakes we have made as a nation that have gotten us to where we are now.
Spoiler alert- I am not here to point fingers at one individual. There is plenty of blame to go around. Plenty. And let me say that although I am no fan of Trump, he inherited a pandemic disaster plan that was flawed at best, and was put in place long before he came to office. So right out of the blocks, the cards were stacked against us.
I wish I was smart enough to document all the mistakes we made, but I am not that guy. Thankfully, someone who had a front row seat to the developments as they unfolded has chronicled them for us.
Scott Gottlieb, M.D., was an FDA Commissioner for a time under Trump and advised the administration on several occasions. In his book, “ Uncontrolled Spread- Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic”, Dr. Gottlieb painstakingly explains the errors we committed along the way.
Disclaimer- I have no relationship, financial or otherwise with Dr. Gottlieb nor have I finished his book yet. However, the things he brings to light are so compelling I felt obliged to write about it.
Here are but a few of the things he expounds upon.
- The COVID test that was developed by the CDC was faulty, so our initial testing was worthless. Most of us have heard this before. But did you also know that the CDC was tasked with not just developing the testing methodology, but also with the manufacturing of the kits?
The CDC is not a manufacturer — this should have been outsourced from the beginning. Who thought that converting the CDC into a testing manufacturer was a good idea to begin with?
2. We had a critical shortage of the polyester swabs ( Q-tip like devices) needed to collect the samples from patients. It took months to correct this. The same can be said for the plastic pipettes (straw like devices) that are used to draw up reagents and samples to perform testing. This lack of foresight led to critical delays in our responsiveness.
3. We had a plan for surveillance and mitigation that was based on the flu virus. The assumption was that the pandemics we had since 1918 were principally flu mediated, so the next one would be too.
COVID is not the flu; it doesn’t spread that way and is quite a bit more infectious. Our playbook was for the wrong opponent.
4. Our failure to realize that COVID was spread by asymptomatic carriers and principally by aerosol methods led us to a lot of cleaning of surfaces (yes there was a time where I would clean my groceries when I came home from the store) that was ineffectual. It was costly and led us astray from what we should have been doing.
5. Our deployment of mitigation strategies was, in many instances, activated too late to be effective. Gottlieb does a great job of showing the data that supports this. He speaks about New York in particular.
6. Our initial surveillance was reactionary; data we were looking at was already days to sometimes weeks old by the time we saw it. Because we were not doing enough testing this was an obvious offshoot.
7. Internal squabbles over who was in charge as well as what mitigation strategies to deploy played a role also. CDC or FDA? Don’t wear a mask/ wear a mask/ don’t wear a mask if you are vaccinated — oops Delta is here, put your masks back on. This led to mistrust of what we were being told because the messaging was inconsistent, and in my opinion, sometimes we were not given the “why” behind the reasoning.
This perhaps may be one of the reasons why there is so much vaccine hesitancy still at this late date. People have little to no trust in what they have been told.
8. Politics. Yes, I said it. But Gottlieb does a more than adequate job depicting what went on behind the scenes from his perspective in a very cogent way. How do we protect the nation but not bring us to our economic knees? How do we balance what we have to do without creating wide spread panic? How do doctors and scientists make their voices heard to politicians who have a different agenda?
Gottlieb’s book goes on to document a myriad of other ills that plagued us during this debacle. It is beyond the scope of this article to cover them all. But you have a flavor for it by now. The book will give you even greater insight.
Yes, I know that hindsight has bias attached to it. I fully agree. But I also know that if you don’t look back, objectively, and look at where you could have done better, you stand no chance the next time you are confronted with a similar circumstance.
And make no mistake about it- there will be another crisis like this that will confront us.
Not if, but when.
So the title of my article states “what is the one question that we still need answered?”
The question is — who in our government is currently tasked with putting together a plan that will prevent us from ever having to trip all over ourselves while we try to control an enemy that is raging amongst us?
If there is someone out there who is doing this, they need to be vocal about the steps being taken.
And if there isn’t anyone?
I nominate Dr. Gottlieb.
Disclaimer — The words and opinions expressed are the author’s own and not those of his employer.
