When will you move on from pandemic?

[TheOtherMe]

My therapist said this morning the state government in Iowa is making it as difficult as possible to get tested for free.  Hence, you must be symptomatic and that's why there are asymptomatic people running around.

She said if you just want to be tested because of exposure, you have to pay for it and even then, appointments are hard to find.

When I went to Canada, we had to go 90 minutes away to get a Travel Covid test.  I was told they didn't know if we would be billed.  So far, I have not been billed.   It was at the University of Iowa Hospital clinic, so I don't know if that makes a difference.  I wanted a drive thru test and that isn't what they do here.  I also wanted an appointment.

@pinkcshmere  I (never being a parent) pretty much told him to tell the sick dad to STFU about the screen time.  He can't take care of him because he is sick.  He may or may not have taken him if he was available, but he isn't available.  His new girlfriend wouldn't take him.  He talked to his parents so they called and while they have had him for some weekends while dad has been sick, they didn't want him while he has covid.

[Miss Tequila]

Nov 15, 2021 15:43:06 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Nov 15, 2021 12:12:13 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

I’m so sorry for your loss :-(

How old was your uncle and did he have any underlying health conditions? From what I’ve read, it is very rare for a healthy, fully vaccinated person to die from Covid. But with these variants, who knows

He was in a nursing home for dementia.  He was 94, but that doesn't mean he had to die from Covid.  He didn't have any other illness that put him in the nursing home.  Another person in the nursing home died of Covid the same day.  That particular nursing home has had several outbreaks since the beginning of the pandemic.

I know my cousin wanted him as close to her as she could find, but she says now she wishes she would have put him in a different nursing home, that everything happened so fast that she didn't check out their history with Covid.

My sister has a friend who has some life threatening illness and is fully vaccinated.  She had been told that if she got Covid it would kill her.  She had some surgery a few weeks ago.  Her husband saw her in the hospital.  3 days after she was home from the hospital, they both tested positive for Covid, so they think they got it at the hospital.  Who knows?

They were treated the next day with the monoclonal antibodies and both seem to have recovered.  Between vaccines and medicine, they both survived their battles with Covid.  The friend's doctor told her he still doesn't think she would have survived if she had not been vaccinated.

It is very sad but we all know that the vaccines aren’t as effective against the very old or those with underlying health conditions

For awhile, it was being reported that 90% of those hospitalized or dying were unvaccinated. But the 10% was usually the very old or those with underlying health conditions (not discounting their deaths but pointing out there is a reason the vaccine wasn’t as effective). The number started to climb and that’s when the boosters were approved.

My family and I all have our boosters so I am feeling as confident as I can that we are protected from severe illness/death. But the elderly or those with underlying health conditions are probably still going to have to be very careful.

It’s also not like my husband and I are out amongst the crowds. If we do go out it is to a sit down restaurant. Servers right now have to be fully masked. Our only risk is having family/friends over. I’m willing to take that risk

ETA: I can’t easily edit on my phone. It was pointed out to me that my sentence wasn’t clear. I’m trying to say that we all know that vaccines aren’t as effective at protecting the elderly or those with certain underlying health conditions. For example, my niece is fully vaccinated but she is going through chemo. She has to be very careful. If she wound up with Covid and died (I hate to even type that!), I wouldn’t consider that a vaccine failure. The chemo is significantly lowering her immune system

I’m also obviously speaking as someone with zero medical training. My opinions only but based on what I’ve read and what I’ve been told by my doctors.

[formerroomate99]

I’ll stop being as concerned when all of my children are fully vaccinated. My 11-year-old was vaccinated this weekend, and my nine-year-old will be vaccinated in a week at the pediatricians office. Her vaccination is delayed because she’s had reactions to other vaccinations in the past, so we wanted to wait a bit until there was more data, and have her vaccinated in a medical setting, where they have crash carts and EpiPen’s, and are across the street from an ER.

In my neck of the woods, the only place I’m required to wear a mask is a medical facility, which makes perfect sense. I haven’t done much mask wearing in public since the mandates were lifted and we had reached the point where all adults who wanted to be vaccinated could be. But I do tend to try to socially distance and or cover my face if I’m around someone who’s masked. You never know if you’re dealing with someone who is high risk and can’t be vaccinated. I’ll continue gently nudging the vaccine hesitant towards getting vaccinated, and booking appointments for those who don’t know how to work it. But there aren’t that many left in my circle of friends.

In my town, Walmart, Walgreens, and pretty much every grocery store pharmacy is doing vaccinations and testing. The at home tests are everywhere, and we also have drive-through testing and mass vaccination sites. So it is possible for a red state to be run by people who aren’t complete effing morons. I feel bad for people living in those states that make it hard to get tested and vaccinated. My 90-year-old parents and policeman stepbrother were vaccinated several months after my husband and I were vaccinated, because Massachusetts doesn’t have nearly as many vaccination sites per capita. I don’t know if they’re going to get their boosters.

[formerroomate99]

Nov 14, 2021 14:05:49 GMT -5 susana1954 said:

I know masks have cut down on stuff like colds, etc., but that may not be a good thing for most people.  Exposure to most common germs isn't that bad for you; it is how you develop a healthy immune system.

That isn't true for everyone, of course, and definitely not for something like Covid.

Having more people working from home and going out less has probably done as much as the masks. I went remote about a year before Covid hit and the number of colds I got was cut down by 2/3. I always thought it was my kids. They would get sick and I would get sick. But it turns out that spending 8 to 10 hours a day in the petri dish they call an office is what did me in.

[haapai]

Nov 15, 2021 15:51:19 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I think right now my biggest concern are people who are not getting tested and not staying home because they think they have a cold.  DN3's fiance thought she had the worst cold she had ever had and went to see my sister and BIL, knowing BIL was having surgery in 3 days.  My sister talked her in to getting tested.  

That was a week ago and she is still very sick.  Has been to the ER twice with difficulty breathing.  As my nephew said, he doesn't want to know what would have happened if she wasn't vaccinated.

Her ex is giving them a hard time because the kindergartner, who also tested positive, is getting too much screen time.  Sometimes when the adults in the house are too sick to give child care all of the attention it needs, that is the only solution.  The two adults both get winded going up and down their stairs.  They don't feel like sitting on the floor to play with him, so screen time it is.  It's temporary, not permanent.

Not to mention, no one is comfortable saying they will come and take the kid  because he has Covid.  None of the grandparents want him at their house and ex is in a rehab center as he recovers from a long hospital stay with RSV.

He isn't coming here and DN3's siblings don't want him at their houses.  I don't know who the ex think is supposed to take care of him when the entire household is sick.  He is asymptomatic, so he may have been the spreader.  

To get tested for free here, you must have symptoms so DN3 has to stretch the truth to get him tested.  It wasn't good enough that his mother was positive and sick.  Otherwise, he would have been going to school spreading Covid.

That is insane. 

[TheOtherMe]

Thanks to #CovidKim.  If you don't test, the numbers are lower.

[toomuchreality]

Nov 16, 2021 18:55:01 GMT -5 haapai said:

Nov 15, 2021 15:51:19 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I think right now my biggest concern are people who are not getting tested and not staying home because they think they have a cold.  DN3's fiance thought she had the worst cold she had ever had and went to see my sister and BIL, knowing BIL was having surgery in 3 days.  My sister talked her in to getting tested.  

That was a week ago and she is still very sick.  Has been to the ER twice with difficulty breathing.  As my nephew said, he doesn't want to know what would have happened if she wasn't vaccinated.

Her ex is giving them a hard time because the kindergartner, who also tested positive, is getting too much screen time.  Sometimes when the adults in the house are too sick to give child care all of the attention it needs, that is the only solution.  The two adults both get winded going up and down their stairs.  They don't feel like sitting on the floor to play with him, so screen time it is.  It's temporary, not permanent.

Not to mention, no one is comfortable saying they will come and take the kid  because he has Covid.  None of the grandparents want him at their house and ex is in a rehab center as he recovers from a long hospital stay with RSV.

He isn't coming here and DN3's siblings don't want him at their houses.  I don't know who the ex think is supposed to take care of him when the entire household is sick.  He is asymptomatic, so he may have been the spreader.  

To get tested for free here, you must have symptoms so DN3 has to stretch the truth to get him tested.  It wasn't good enough that his mother was positive and sick.  Otherwise, he would have been going to school spreading Covid.

That is insane. 

This is how it is here, too. Even though my daughter and her husband both tested positive and were very sick, as was their 3 yr old and I had been with them all day Fri and all day Mon, I couldn't get tested because I was asymptomatic. So the following day I called back, said I had a stuffy nose and congestion. They tested me that same day. An hour later said I was positive.

[Deleted]

I'm definitely still not over it but I sure an READY to be over it.

I posted in "what are you doing" so this is a bit repetitive, but I was just informed that someone who attended the same classroom weekend at a school in Topeka with me tested positive. They were vaccinated and the case was mild. You were supposed to be vaccinated to be there in-person (Zoom was an option) but no one asked me for proof, so who knows? The demographics of this group (older, liberal, many in healthcare) would indicate pretty high compliance. We masked indoors but did share meals together.

So... I have zero symptoms but will be tested tomorrow at 10 AM in the CVS drive-through. I have encounters with other humans coming up that I will avoid or postpone till I know for sure that I'm OK. I'm not thrilled with all the actions of the government in my state (MO) but am grateful tests are easy to get and there's no out-of-pocket costs.

Still, it's just an additional worry, another thing you gotta do that adds to whatever load you're already carrying and wasn't even a thing 2 years ago.

[TheOtherMe]

The number of positive cases gave doubled in my county in a month.  The number of active cases have also doubled.  

Most people here think it's over.  Obviously, it isn't. 

[jerseygirl]

Guess I am. Had lunch with a friend yesterday and going to a fashion show for charity tonight
I had booster 2 weeks ago but nervous about tonight

[formerroomate99]

Nov 16, 2021 20:28:17 GMT -5 toomuchreality said:

Nov 16, 2021 18:55:01 GMT -5 haapai said:

That is insane. 

This is how it is here, too. Even though my daughter and her husband both tested positive and were very sick, as was their 3 yr old and I had been with them all day Fri and all day Mon, I couldn't get tested because I was asymptomatic. So the following day I called back, said I had a stuffy nose and congestion. They tested me that same day. An hour later said I was positive.

Don’t the Walgreens and Walmart by you have the at home test?

[haapai]

Nov 29, 2021 15:48:09 GMT -5 formerroomate99 said:

Nov 16, 2021 20:28:17 GMT -5 toomuchreality said:

This is how it is here, too. Even though my daughter and her husband both tested positive and were very sick, as was their 3 yr old and I had been with them all day Fri and all day Mon, I couldn't get tested because I was asymptomatic. So the following day I called back, said I had a stuffy nose and congestion. They tested me that same day. An hour later said I was positive.

Don’t the Walgreens and Walmart by you have the at home test?

I don't know how too... is going to answer that question but I'll answer that question for myself. 

I've never even bothered to investigate what kind of at-home testing is available in my area.  After all of the kerfluffle regarding what a positive test result means for a person without covid symptoms and how little assurance a negative result could give, I decided not to even price it, much less chase it. 

I'm afraid to use what may or may not be available in my drugstore because I just don't know how to interpret the results.  And I sure as f^^^ ain't gonna spend my spare time and more than spare change chasing down a test that I don't actually understand or know how to use.  The odds that I would use a two-pack of rapid tests to test myself twice at twenty-four hour intervals are terrible.  I would almost certainly test myself once and my partner once and then go out into the world in search of another test kit, or not, especially if the results were negative. 

At $3 a pop, I'd test five days a week before turning the key in my car.  I'd even be willing to lose quite a bit of pay or vacation time to false positives, but I will not pay $20 a pop for something that nobody knows how to interpret and my employer treats as malingering. 

[toomuchreality]

Nov 29, 2021 15:48:09 GMT -5 formerroomate99 said:

Nov 16, 2021 20:28:17 GMT -5 toomuchreality said:

This is how it is here, too. Even though my daughter and her husband both tested positive and were very sick, as was their 3 yr old and I had been with them all day Fri and all day Mon, I couldn't get tested because I was asymptomatic. So the following day I called back, said I had a stuffy nose and congestion. They tested me that same day. An hour later said I was positive.

Don’t the Walgreens and Walmart by you have the at home test?

In Nov 2020, when I was tested, they didn't.
I'm getting tested again tomorrow at Walgreen's drive up. The one hour test is not available in my state, that I could find. Only the 24 hr and the longer one, through Walgreen's.

[jerseygirl]

Why hasn’t Biden stepped up to make tests easily available to all? Do something like operation warp speed to send month supply to all or have many locations where people can easily get free tests

[Deleted]

We got our booster 2 weeks ago today, still avoiding all the close situations with groups of people, so no, not moving on yet. 

[movingforward]

I have moved on already...got my booster last Sunday. Have dropped the mask unless a business requires it, back to attending conferences and other work travel, etc. I'm still not doing any international travel, and probably will not for at least a couple of years, but other than that I have moved towards normalcy.

Since being fully vaccinated back in mid February I have been on several flights, stayed in a lot of hotels, been to conferences, Vegas twice, etc. Feeling like it's likely I have been exposed and the vaccine took care of it. I have no way of knowing that for sure but I have faith in the vaccine so will just keep getting boosted when I am told to and go about my life.

[toomuchreality]

Nov 29, 2021 22:33:13 GMT -5 movingforward said:

I have moved on already...got my booster last Sunday. Have dropped the mask unless a business requires it, back to attending conferences and other work travel, etc. I'm still not doing any international travel, and probably will not for at least a couple of years, but other than that I have moved towards normalcy.

Since being fully vaccinated back in mid February I have been on several flights, stayed in a lot of hotels, been to conferences, Vegas twice, etc. Feeling like it's likely I have been exposed and the vaccine took care of it. I have no way of knowing that for sure but I have faith in the vaccine so will just keep getting boosted when I am told to and go about my life.

Although I haven't really been to a whole lot of places and no flights, I have basically felt much the same. Like the vaccine was doing its job.
That is, until this last Friday. The day after Thanksgiving. By Sunday, I couldn't get tested fast enough. Hopefully, I'm wrong. But I want to know that, for sure. I don't want to go around telling people I have a cold, if it's really something else. My guess is, that's how I got it... Again(?).
After testing positive in Nov, 1st vaccination March 11, 2nd vaccination April 1st. I thought I had good antibodies in place. But maybe not.

I'm not saying anything about your thoughts/feelings/actions, at all. You just described how I have pretty much felt, prior to the last few days, very well.

If my test comes back negative, will I go right back to feeling that way? Because I've been conscientious, maybe so- after I get my booster. We'll see.

I've had 2 heart attacks, have AFib and chronic kidney disease, etc. I'd rather not get/give a (bad) case of Covid.

[anciana]

Nov 29, 2021 20:59:33 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Why hasn’t Biden stepped up to make tests easily available to all? Do something like operation warp speed to send month supply to all or have many locations where people can easily get free tests

It appears to me that a lot of it is still on individual states, counties, communities. We have something like that where we live but not too many people know about signing up to get free tests. My kiddo just told me couple of weeks ago that the school would give us a rapid test if anyone needed it too, but I just didn't know that. There are also locations where people can get tested free of charge if they don't have health insurance, rapid test and PCR.

[raeoflyte]

Nov 30, 2021 10:06:43 GMT -5 anciana said:

Nov 29, 2021 20:59:33 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Why hasn’t Biden stepped up to make tests easily available to all? Do something like operation warp speed to send month supply to all or have many locations where people can easily get free tests

It appears to me that a lot of it is still on individual states, counties, communities. We have something like that where we live but not too many people know about signing up to get free tests. My kiddo just told me couple of weeks ago that the school would give us a rapid test if anyone needed it too, but I just didn't know that. There are also locations where people can get tested free of charge if they don't have health insurance, rapid test and PCR.

We have a testing location very close to us that is practically walk in, and you're in and out I'm under 5 minutes. 48 hours for results but still convenient and free.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Nov 29, 2021 20:59:33 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Why hasn’t Biden stepped up to make tests easily available to all? Do something like operation warp speed to send month supply to all or have many locations where people can easily get free tests

How do you think that this can happen, when some states are severely curtailing testing by guidelines?

It is not that the supplies are not available, it is that state guidelines vary considerably among states.  I live in a state where it is easy to find a test.  I have heard on travel boards that those who are trying to get a test done for travel are having difficulty.  What they all have in common is that they are red states.  Now why do you think that is?

[minnesotapaintlady]

Testing is super easy here too and has been for a long time.  There are several walk-in places that get results in 24 hours or less and there are no restrictions on who can get tested.  Walgreens has stacks of the 15 minute rapid tests that are 2 for $24 which is what I think the schools and my workplace has available too.  If a kid gets sick at school they rapid test them on the spot. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Nov 30, 2021 10:47:24 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Nov 29, 2021 20:59:33 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Why hasn’t Biden stepped up to make tests easily available to all? Do something like operation warp speed to send month supply to all or have many locations where people can easily get free tests

How do you think that this can happen, when some states are severely curtailing testing by guidelines?

It is not that the supplies are not available, it is that state guidelines vary considerably among states.  I live in a state where it is easy to find a test.  I have heard on travel boards that those who are trying to get a test done for travel are having difficulty.  What they all have in common is that they are red states.  Now why do you think that is?

It's awful in Iowa trying to find a test.  They closed all the Test Iowa sites because we're "done" with COVID.  You can get an "at home" test from the state but it requires you to send it via UPS to a testing site and can take up to 14 days for the results to get back.  Fat lot of good that does you if you job won't pay you to hang around waiting for Iowa to physically mail you results  now you have a decision to make.

So you have to go to a pharmacy to get one.  One of my co-workers was exposed.  His wife went to get tested and there was a THREE HOUR wait.  When I was at Walgreens picking up DH's scrip it was only 11 am and the pharmacist was telling someone all testing appointments for that day were gone.  The Pharmacies are back up to 3-5 day turn around time.

I am lucky in my case that I can hop across the river to Omaha to see if there is a testing slot open.   Others in the state don't have the luxury of living within 15 minutes of multiple other testing sites.

Reynolds is still sucking Trump's dick when it comes to COVID, I think she imagines herself as his next VP.

[Cookies Galore]

Nov 29, 2021 17:31:39 GMT -5 haapai said:

Nov 29, 2021 15:48:09 GMT -5 formerroomate99 said:

Don’t the Walgreens and Walmart by you have the at home test?

I don't know how too... is going to answer that question but I'll answer that question for myself. 

I've never even bothered to investigate what kind of at-home testing is available in my area.  After all of the kerfluffle regarding what a positive test result means for a person without covid symptoms and how little assurance a negative result could give, I decided not to even price it, much less chase it. 

I'm afraid to use what may or may not be available in my drugstore because I just don't know how to interpret the results.  And I sure as f^^^ ain't gonna spend my spare time and more than spare change chasing down a test that I don't actually understand or know how to use.  The odds that I would use a two-pack of rapid tests to test myself twice at twenty-four hour intervals are terrible.  I would almost certainly test myself once and my partner once and then go out into the world in search of another test kit, or not, especially if the results were negative. 

At $3 a pop, I'd test five days a week before turning the key in my car.  I'd even be willing to lose quite a bit of pay or vacation time to false positives, but I will not pay $20 a pop for something that nobody knows how to interpret and my employer treats as malingering. 

Jesus Christ. The at-home tests include directions and an interpretation chart. It's stupid easy. I've used them for some quick peace of mind when feeling cold symptoms, but I wouldn't make a regular habit of spending $25 for the BinaxNow test.
I have gone to CVS for the free PCR test before a trip where a negative PCR was required. My personal experience is CVS testing has results in 24 hours, though that elusive Walgreens IDNow test usually comes back in 4 hours. That's hot appointment to get!

[TheOtherMe]

Nov 30, 2021 11:17:01 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Nov 30, 2021 10:47:24 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

How do you think that this can happen, when some states are severely curtailing testing by guidelines?

It is not that the supplies are not available, it is that state guidelines vary considerably among states.  I live in a state where it is easy to find a test.  I have heard on travel boards that those who are trying to get a test done for travel are having difficulty.  What they all have in common is that they are red states.  Now why do you think that is?

It's awful in Iowa trying to find a test.  They closed all the Test Iowa sites because we're "done" with COVID.  You can get an "at home" test from the state but it requires you to send it via UPS to a testing site and can take up to 14 days for the results to get back.  Fat lot of good that does you if you job won't pay you to hang around waiting for Iowa to physically mail you results  now you have a decision to make.

So you have to go to a pharmacy to get one.  One of my co-workers was exposed.  His wife went to get tested and there was a THREE HOUR wait.  When I was at Walgreens picking up DH's scrip it was only 11 am and the pharmacist was telling someone all testing appointments for that day were gone.  The Pharmacies are back up to 3-5 day turn around time.

I am lucky in my case that I can hop across the river to Omaha to see if there is a testing slot open.   Others in the state don't have the luxury of living within 15 minutes of multiple other testing sites.

Reynolds is still sucking Trump's dick when it comes to COVID, I think she imagines herself as his next VP.

Exactly Drama.

My nephew and his little family had to have symptoms to get tested by a doctor.  They didn't want to go inside a store to buy kits and I keep reading the drug stores can't keep them in stock.  DN3 stretched the truth about his soon to be stepson and the kid tested positive.

Reynolds also says it's okay to go to school if you are asymptomatic.  Uh, that kid can still spread Covid.  But she doesn't care.  Last night, she said it's great that a court put a stay that health care facilities can't require vaccinations if they accept Medicare and Medicaid.  This morning she signed on to some case that is anti-abortion because all life is important and must be saved.

Double talk word salad.

[teen persuasion]

Even blue states have red areas - rural, where everything is an hour+ away.

NY was great about setting up testing sites early on, but they were fewer and further out for non-metro areas.  When cases dropped down to low numbers, and drug stores began offering tests, the state run sites packed up.  Then testing became a cash cow, to travel, and for-profit sites sprung up everywhere.  And now my region is over 10% positivity, and climbing, but finding somewhere to test RN for free is difficult.  The one semi-reliable place nearby is the independent drug store, but they don't want to get involved with insurance, so it's $60 cash upfront.

[raeoflyte]

Nov 30, 2021 13:24:32 GMT -5 teen persuasion said:

Even blue states have red areas - rural, where everything is an hour+ away.

NY was great about setting up testing sites early on, but they were fewer and further out for non-metro areas.  When cases dropped down to low numbers, and drug stores began offering tests, the state run sites packed up.  Then testing became a cash cow, to travel, and for-profit sites sprung up everywhere.  And now my region is over 10% positivity, and climbing, but finding somewhere to test RN for free is difficult.  The one semi-reliable place nearby is the independent drug store, but they don't want to get involved with insurance, so it's $60 cash upfront.

The place we test doesn't ask for insurance, and it's free to get tested. I'm not sure whose paying for it but it's definitely should be the standard.

I'd assume the red states have fought that to keep the reported #'s down? But to Jerseygirls point, should the feds be able to overrule them and set up testing centers.

[minnesotapaintlady]

The test centers here don't ask for insurance either.  They just want some basic demographic info for reporting purposes and an email address to send the results to.

[jerseygirl]

Would help people if the federal government just mailed or made available a month’s supply of rapid tests to all
Here in north jersey (very blue if that means anything?) you can go to doctors office ( but the office always seems to include costs for an office visit also) or try to get appointment at a pharmacy which is often not available.
Not easy especially for parents with kids that need to be tested
Just think the federal government could step up and make easier but they seem satisfied with the patchwork and difficulty that exists. Why no efforts to ease the problems?
Lots of blah blah blah Trump blah blah

[pulmonarymd]

Nov 30, 2021 13:58:59 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Would help people if the federal government just mailed or made available a month’s supply of rapid tests to all
Here in north jersey (very blue if that means anything?) you can go to doctors office ( but the office always seems to include costs for an office visit also) or try to get appointment at a pharmacy which is often not available.
Not easy especially for parents with kids that need to be tested
Just think the federal government could step up and make easier but they seem satisfied with the patchwork and difficulty that exists. Why no efforts to ease the problems?
Lots of blah blah blah Trump blah blah

Testing is not the problem. Vaccination rates are the problem. Fitting mitigation efforts as is being done by Republican governors is the problem. The ongoing disinformation campaign by Fox News and conservative media is the problem. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz attacking Fauci is the problem.

The way out of this is vaccination. It has always been the way to end this. Testing is a poor substitute for it. And do you really think that the republicans in congress and statehouses wouldn’t come out against Biden sending out these test kits. If so, besides being disingenuous, you are incredibly naive.

[gs11rmb]

Nov 30, 2021 13:58:59 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Would help people if the federal government just mailed or made available a month’s supply of rapid tests to all
Here in north jersey (very blue if that means anything?) you can go to doctors office ( but the office always seems to include costs for an office visit also) or try to get appointment at a pharmacy which is often not available.
Not easy especially for parents with kids that need to be tested
Just think the federal government could step up and make easier but they seem satisfied with the patchwork and difficulty that exists. Why no efforts to ease the problems?
Lots of blah blah blah Trump blah blah

That's a nice idea but the cost would be huge.  Even assuming the government can buy and distribute at-home kits at a cost of $10 and there are 330 million people in this country.  If each person gets five tests that would be $16.5B (unless I can't count the zeroes correctly, which is always a possibility)!

I think the other problem, beyond scale, is that people least likely to use the kits are the ones most likely to be spreading COVID.  Of course, I have no facts to back up that assumption, it's merely a hunch.