It is not a secret that I am not a fan of Trump. While I still hold him deeply responsible for many of the problems related to the United States' response to the pandemic, I will admit that there is one thing he got right: facilitating and accelerating the development of vaccines for COVID-19. Sure, he exaggerated how well the program was going before the election and then deliberately sabotaged the distribution part of the plan during his political pouting following the election. However, the actual operation has been an overall success: the U.S. has been able to move quite rapidly at distributing several viable vaccines to help bring life back to normal.
This has put the U.S. in the top ten nations worldwide when it comes to vaccinations as a percentage of the population and the top nation when it comes to total vaccinations to date. In a recent conversation, Chloé (our French exchange student from last year) revealed that France barely has any vaccines to go around. More than just the amount of the vaccines available, the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have shown to be more effective as well as safer than vaccines that other countries have allowed. For me, this demonstrates again, the awesome power that the U.S. can bring to bear during times of crisis.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in facing this pandemic. Doubt and misinformation encouraged from Trump himself weakened people's confidence in medical experts, downplayed the threat of the pandemic, touted false cures for the sake of making a profit, and hampered the actual distribution of the vaccines. Interestingly, the Trumps received their vaccinations back in January before he left office, but they did so quietly rather than disrupt the confusion he had brought to his followers. Thankfully, he has started to publicly encourage people to receive the vaccination; although, I am concerned that even his endorsement may have come too late.
Thankfully, the Biden administration has been able to sort through the mess that had been deliberately left for them. Instead of stumbling, Biden's strategies have actually led to a quicker distribution than had been projected. Still, without Operation Warp Speed, there might not have been vaccines available to distribute.
This has put the U.S. in the top ten nations worldwide when it comes to vaccinations as a percentage of the population and the top nation when it comes to total vaccinations to date. In a recent conversation, Chloé (our French exchange student from last year) revealed that France barely has any vaccines to go around. More than just the amount of the vaccines available, the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have shown to be more effective as well as safer than vaccines that other countries have allowed. For me, this demonstrates again, the awesome power that the U.S. can bring to bear during times of crisis.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in facing this pandemic. Doubt and misinformation encouraged from Trump himself weakened people's confidence in medical experts, downplayed the threat of the pandemic, touted false cures for the sake of making a profit, and hampered the actual distribution of the vaccines. Interestingly, the Trumps received their vaccinations back in January before he left office, but they did so quietly rather than disrupt the confusion he had brought to his followers. Thankfully, he has started to publicly encourage people to receive the vaccination; although, I am concerned that even his endorsement may have come too late.
Thankfully, the Biden administration has been able to sort through the mess that had been deliberately left for them. Instead of stumbling, Biden's strategies have actually led to a quicker distribution than had been projected. Still, without Operation Warp Speed, there might not have been vaccines available to distribute.
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