Andy slavitt son covid8/30/2023 ![]() We probably will never run out of ventilators again. I’m quite sure we can get the literal things right. And along with that, we need a domestic drug supply manufacturing capacity so we can control some of the critical medications and not have to rely on overseas trade. But depending upon how something spreads, it could be other things. For this particular crisis, we know that looks like masks and shields. We also need the physical infrastructure, a cache of ready supplies, probably in regional hubs that are continually maintained. We need to be able to do very quick tracing and testing and have that infrastructure up and ready to go. ![]() Here we are, $4 or $5 trillion later, and $100 billion seems like a dream. On the three biggest things we can do to prepare for the next pandemic: I gave a speech at School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota in December-little did I know how close we were coming to a pandemic-and I said that the biggest problem in public health is there is no effective public health lobby and no one had put together a case for $100 billion of investment in the country’s public health infrastructure. Earlier this week, he summed up what seems like his guiding principle in a single tweet: “Crises are shorter when governments are better.” “Crises are shorter when governments are better.” His prolific Twitter feed is required coronavirus reading-in voicey threads, he contextualizes the torrent of overwhelming pandemic news. His podcast, “ In the Bubble,” tackles vaccine science, offers advice on confronting mask deniers, and offers solutions to the emerging hunger crisis as the economy falters. Since then, he’s emerged as an authority on both the medical and political dimensions of COVID-19. In March, he predicted the shortage of hospital beds and ventilators. Slavitt grasped the seriousness of the coronavirus back in February, when he urged the White House to ramp up preparations-and he wasn’t shy about criticizing what he saw as a woefully inadequate response. United States of Care, the nonprofit he helped build in the years since, aims to improve access to health care for all Americans. After decades of leadership in health care companies, he served under President Obama as the acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where he was instrumental in implementing the Affordable Care Act. So how do we fix what COVID has shown was broken? In this Mother Jones series, we’re asking experts from a wide range of disciplines one question: What are the most important steps we can take to make sure we’re better prepared next time?Īndy Slavitt knows the ins and outs of public health in America. Infectious disease experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before the next pandemic, and that could be even more deadly. Despite repeated warnings from infectious disease experts, we lacked essential beds, equipment, and medication public health advice was confusing, and our leadership offered no clear direction while sidelining credible health professionals and institutions. ![]() Check out our most recent coverage of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.Īs the world grapples with the devastation of the coronavirus, one thing is clear: The United States simply wasn’t prepared. The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content in this article might be out of date.
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