Back to COVID

 So, if I am dunking on Biden, what about COVID.  Clearly that is going disastrously. James Fallows had a fascinating article making that case that Trump really does deserve blame for not acting promptly when the disease first started in China.  Does Biden deserve similar blame for not acting when the delta variant got started in India?  I don't know, but that is really not my focus.

 The fact remains that, despite a good start with vaccines, the delta variant has swamped our effort and now we are back where we started.  Part of that is the result of vaccine and mask resistance by Republicans, but not all.  Even the countries with the highest vaccine rate are seeing serious resurgence due to breakthrough infections with the delta variant.  

Let's face facts. WE WON'T BEAT COVID WITH VACCINES ALONE.

Fortunately we have other options. So why aren't we using them?

Rapid, affordable tests by now are technically possible and a reality in some countries.  So why don't we have cheap and abundant tests here?  The answer appears to be that the FDA has not approved them.  At the same time, we also have an effective treatment.  The monoclonal antibodies that were only available to a select few when Donald Trump was treated with them are now produced on a large enough scale to be available for high-risk patients in general.  But the treatment is not widely known, largely because it is being discouraged for fear people will regard is as an alternative to the vaccine.

So, what is Joe Biden to do?  I can think of four steps.  Three are purely technical and should be doable if he puts is mind to it.  The fourth is psychological and is most vexing.

First, get the tests approved.  We are right back where we started at the beginning of the pandemic. The FDA delayed in approving tests then.  I did not let Trump off the hook in the belief that an ingenious President knows how to overcome this sort of bureaucratic delay.  The Biden Administration has not impressed me with its ingenuity, but it needs to get some NOW and find a way to clear the bureaucratic hurdle.

Ramp up production and distribution.  Use the Defense Production Act to speed up production of both tests and monoclonal antibodies.  Use the distribution networks you used for getting out vaccine (very well done) to get out tests and treatment.  I saw an article (can't find now) complaining that Regeneron antibody treatment requires not just the antibodies, but delivery materials like IV bottles, syringes, etc.  Well, fine, use the Act to ramp up production of those, too.

Focus on export as well as home consumption.  We need the same multi-layered approach to defeat this disease the world over, before some new and even more alarming mutation arises.

Get the anti-vaxers to use the products.  OK, I admit this one is probably the biggest challenge of all. People who won't get the vaccine and won't wear masks, people who prefer horse dewormer, and even boo Donald Trump when he recommends getting vaccinated, will probably also resist taking home tests or using monoclonal antibodies.  A sizable portion of the population will reject anything associated with the Biden Administration, or even with any branch of the federal government.  The best option, in that case, is to encourage private actors and Republicans to do as much of the promotion as possible, if they will cooperate.  But get the word out, along with the product.