Just about anything. I want a pony, a flying car, a boat, and a retirement in central America. Oops, sorry I meant in terms of pandemic preparedness and disease surveillance and response.

My first piece kicked the dead horse (again) of the need for vaccines. Yes, kid’s prevention does hinge on a population with a robust immune response. Vaccines make that response more robust and effective. However, we need to watch the world, our borders, and inside our country for a dangerous enemy, disease spread. Thought I was going to say the excited and imagined threat from our neighbors to the south. I spoke to some folks in Mexico who love their country and their way of life. They would have no interest in visiting, let alone immigrating here.  We do not present the opportunities that we used to in their minds.

We need this more than we need any border “protection.” The wall doesn’t stop disease and the hundreds of border patrol agents do nothing as well.  On a recent return from Mexico all the CBP agents I saw looked constipated and sad with their life. They also looked like they could barely handle the computer they were looking at, let alone an actual real “situation.” You know like the jihad or Mexican banditos storming the gates.

The administration, who the head of has expressed “doubts” about the efficacy of vaccines (yeah he has and finally back-peddled in April), has murdered the budget of the CDC by almost 60%. The underfunded area is that part that performs worldwide surveillance of and response to pandemics. Because, survey says, wall.

Today, of course, he tweets what a “great job” the CDC is doing with the coronavirus.  It could do a lot more and not rely on China to do the leg work.

Enough about the administration and the shitty response.

How the response should look is the CDC cooperating with the World Health Organization (WHO) in an active capacity (it is obtaining passive data at best), to investigate the extent of the outbreak, the source, the transmission method, the possible patient zero and his exposure, and obtain samples for test.

Instead, we have little information that we are having to rely on the WHO and China for their information that is not forthcoming in a super-fast manner, because China is dealing with it on the ground in real-time. They are cooperating with outside agencies.  The CDC would typically be able to get access to these things and work with or alongside the Chinese to make the discoveries. WE ARE NOT. Why? Funding. No bucks, no bang.

We are also not adequately funded at our borders to handle the possibility that someone may enter this country with the disease.  You know by flying in over the wall.

Proper funding would provide a rapid screening method, that we could implement at entry points to screen inbound passengers. As invasive as it sounds, it is necessary to contain the disease.

As a country, we need to stop with the “personal freedoms” schtick when it comes to things like this and vaccines. I am sorry but if you cannot be a responsible fucking member of society, we need to help you.  It is to everyone’s benefit and your small loss of personal freedom is hella less than the crap most states are pulling with fucking abortion.  Yeah, conservatives, you are okay with forcing your way into a woman’s vag, but you can’t make fucking Karen and her sniffling brood get fucking tested entering this country.

We leave it to CBP; you remember the constipated dudes, to ask you some screening questions and then, who knows what.  I was in a hurry at the border, do you think I would have been honest?

Look we have let our representatives get away with gutting money for our healthcare and our health and well being and it needs to fucking stop.

No matter what be the kind of person that your dog and your mom hope you are.