HJBR Nov/Dec 2024

POLITICIZATION OF COVID 24 NOV / DEC 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE is that Moderna was not informing providers, pharmacists, and patients about the potential consequences of the COVID shot. The Journal went to a physician’s office and three pharmacies in Louisiana asking for vaccine inserts. The physician, Walmart pharmacy, and Walgreens were only giving COMIRNATY (Pfizer) and handed me a folded, fully printed packet insert. The third, a SaveOn, asked us to wait, then handed a 43-page printed sheet. When told we were expecting a blank sheet, the pharmacy director said, “Oh I can get that for you. We just throw that away. If they tried to print on that sheet, you couldn’t read it. They sent this to us in a digital format, so we could. We also have a shorter, eight-page Moderna vaccine information ‘Fact Sheet for Recipients and Caregivers’ that we give to everyone who gets the shot. Most people just throw it away.” We asked, “And they have been sending this electronically since the first shots were provided, even Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)?” “Yes.” she said. This same disinformation ruse has been explained away in media reports since 2021. Answers are found on the FDA’s website. The labeling information is understood by providers and vaccinators probably as well as any other drug they’re prescribing or dispensing. It’s available for any of them to read, and one may argue any recent negative outcomes would be more updated on the online version than if printed in the actual packaging. And there’s the rub — disinformation. It’s one thing to question whether masks were effective. Experts knew cloth masks couldn’t fully stop the virus, and the public knew it too. But at the time, there was a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), and rationing was necessary to protect healthcare workers. Was it unreasonable to try cloth masks in a public health crisis? Was it somewhat effective? Probably like a screen door stops some gnats, cloth masks stopped some viral particles. Was the 6-foot rule made up as they stated in the committee? Yes, but as anyone remembers from the Peanuts cartoon character Pigpen, the closer you are to someone, the more particles are around you — it’s common sense, just like one sperm can fertilize an egg, it only takes one COVID virus to infect a person. However, your chances of avoiding infection increase if you’re not close to an infected person. Regarding natural immunity versus protection from the shots, it was thought natural immunity probably existed, but at the time, we didn’t know for sure, nor did we know how long it would last. In a public health crisis, one must balance the known with the unknown. Public health experts did not know the novel risks of COVID-19. Were some things done right? Absolutely. Were some people injured by the vaccine or an attempted cure? Yes, and unfortunately. But we all know that can happen with any medicine. Over 3,000 healthcare workers in the U.S. died from COVID-19. Over 18,000 Louisianians died. We lost a lot with COVID. We give up rights when bad things happen. Some we can claw back, like schools and businesses reopening. Others, like long TSA security lines, seem to remain forever. We — as a state, nation, and world — are still recovering from this trauma. People continue to be infected, but fortunately, fewer are dying — whether by the grace of God, human ingenuity, or mere luck, we simply don’t know. Ultimately, healthcare is regulated by the government. The state boards and organizations, most of which were not new appointees of the governor, provided thoughtful, non- partisan answers to questions. They were there in the midst of the crisis working as best they could with the information they had. Many of the questions asked were based on citizens’ misconceptions or unproven assumptions. Perhaps we should grow increasingly wary of anyone in public health singing the praises of any politician or party. And this may sound lofty, but as healthcare leaders, you should hold your mission sacred. Caring for citizens should not be influenced by any political party, politician, or lobbying group that financially benefits from decisions made. As healthcare professionals, we don’t ask patients how they vote before we treat them — it doesn’t matter. The same principle should apply to public health responses. We all faced the same battle, and, as an industry, we should strive to remain apolitical and above reproach, letting partisan arguments ring hollow into oblivion. Because one thing we can all agree on is this: the next pandemic will come. We just don’t know when or what it will be. And when it does, we’ll need the best public health team in place to respond, political affiliations be damned. n