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Healthcare Industry to the Rescue – Ken’s Thought of the Week

Kenneth Abramowitz

July 5, 2021

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.Threat Analyst Ken Abramowitz is author of “The Multifront War”

Editor: Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, President, American Center for Democracy (ACD)

See the sources for this article and more research in the Additional Reading section.

Ken’s Quote of the Week

In February 2020, the United States was hit by the pandemic of COVID-19. Foreign traffic was largely closed. The Federal and state governments imposed lockdowns. The economy collapsed in March. The GDP fell a record 35% in the second quarter. By April unemployment had spiked from 4% to 14.7%, resulting in 20 million layoffs. An instant worldwide depression ensued. By mid-June 2021, 600,000 Americans died, and 4 million died worldwide.

When COVID-19 hit, there were no diagnostics, no therapeutics, no vaccines, and very little personal protection equipment (PPE). The country and the world were in a state of shock. Aided by a massive $2 trillion of extra spending and a $3 trillion overall budget deficit equaling 12% of the GDP, the U.S. government forged an instant public-private partnership. Aided by its internal resources, the healthcare industry rose to the challenge and attacked a virus unknown to the industry until January 2020:

1) Hospitals deferred elective surgeries and focused on the sudden flood of COVID patients. Non-COVID patient volume collapsed. PPE was in short supply, but the dedicated physicians and nurses worked overtime and did all they could to save the patients. Hospital operating losses mounted, but hospitals generally did not cut back on employees. They hoped that the challenges would not take long to overcome.

2) The major insurance companies and Medicare loaned money to desperate hospitals in an unprecedented manner. Private and federal insurers facilitated payments to telemedicine companies to pay for virtual visits.

3) The PPE manufacturers scaled up extensively the production of masks, sanitizers, and gloves. The ventilator companies substantially ramped-up their production and even shared patents to expand collective production.

4) The diagnostic companies developed new antigen and antibody tests, improved their accuracy, and shortened the time for the results. A variety of blood tests and nasal swab tests proliferated, as leading laboratory companies expanded their capacity.

5) The pharmaceutical industry ramped up the development of high-tech, antibody-based therapeutics to cure the disease.

6) The vaccine manufacturers raced to develop solutions in unprecedented time frames, spearheaded and subsidized by President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, which defied conventional wisdom, but cut 3-5 years off the vaccine development timeline.

Within ten months, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were on the market. By December 2021, they will have each sold nearly two billion doses, and are forecasting the sale of three billion doses in 2022. Other manufacturers entered the market as well, led by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

As heroic Civil War nurse Clara Barton reminded us: “It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I cannot afford the luxury of a closed mind.”

Eighteen months after the COVID pandemic breakout, 50% of American adults have been vaccinated, and COVID incidence and death rates have plummeted. The U.S. is rapidly recovering its economic health. After declining 5% in 2020, the GDP should rise 5-6% in 2021. Mask mandates are ending throughout the country

7) Yet, instead of focusing the lockdowns on the vulnerable population over 65, several states, particularly New York, Illinois, Michigan, and California, maintained economically and psychologically destructive lockdowns for too long.

8) Moreover, several governors greatly mismanaged the situation, sending COVID patients into under-equipped nursing homes, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths, particularly in northern states like New York, New Jersey, and Michigan.

9) Political considerations led to the denial of potentially life-saving drugs for millions of patients, with repurposed drugs like Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin forbidden by the federal and state governments. The American Medical Association (AMA) and major medical journals such as The Lancet did not stand up for the rights and obligation of physicians to provide all available medicines to protect life. Even simple prophylactic solutions such as zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin C were not widely discussed or recommended.

10) The same political considerations prevented and even banned public discussion and information on the pandemic in most legacy and social media outlets, in clear violation of the First Amendment. For example:

- Did the virus come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
- Was the Institute working on gain-of-function research?
- Was the government funding some of the research?
- Did the virus escape the lab?
- Did China take advantage of the accident to launch a biological warfare attack on the U.S. and the world?
- Should the U.S. and the rest of the world seek compensation from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their irresponsible, accidental, or purposeful nefarious actions?

All in all, the U.S. is fortunate to have most of the best healthcare companies in the world. Also, luckily, they have coordinated their activities with other advanced healthcare companies in the world. They stepped up to the challenge of a lifetime. They each addressed the problems that suited their expertise and resources. They were aided by an equally aggressive federal government and energized FDA.

Alas, they were sometimes impeded locally by a few incompetent governors and mayors. For their failures during the pandemic, New York State and City will be remembered as a poster child for incompetence and corruption.

The pharmaceutical companies and the Trump Administration were often criticized by the politically-motivated and corrupt mainstream media and social media. But their employees worked tirelessly and their managers made bold decisions.

The U.S. is wounded, but it has weathered the Wuhan virus well. We have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to be proud of!

ADDITIONAL READING:

COVID-19 Vaccine Development: Behind the Scenes – covid19.nih.gov

U.S. GDP likely sank a record 35% in the 2nd quarter after coronavirus ravaged the economy – MarketWatch

Unemployment rate jumps to 14.7 percent, the worst since the Great Depression – The Washington Post

An economist explains what COVID-19 has done to the economy – WEForum.org

Record numbers applied for unemployment benefits in March, an unprecedented spike due to the coronavirus outbreak – WashingtonPost.com

Shortage of personal protective equipment endangering health workers worldwide – who.int

Top insurance companies waive co-pays, cover telemedicine to protect American seniors – 8NewsNow.com

Manufacturers Shift to PPE Production to Fight COVID-19 Pandemic | 2020-06-17 – AssemblyMag.com

CDC Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 – CDC.gov

A Timeline of COVID-19 Developments in 2020 – ajmc.com