Needed: Covid After-Action Report
It has been two years since the first cases of Covid-19 hit our shores. Since then, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have been successful in producing vaccines in record time through a remarkable public-private partnership. Operation Warp Speed was a huge success. A look back on this effort shows that creating the vaccine was merely the first step before the challenge of mass production and delivery.
We’re still combating Covid-19 and there are areas where we can better spend our healthcare resources more effectively. For this to work, public health entities need to do a comprehensive after-action report on what was done right and what was done wrong – a report that offers direction on how we can improve medical progress. What’s more, such an after-action report would help rebuild the American people’s trust in our public health community. It’s past time for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health agencies to do a deep-dive investigation on the successes and failures of our Covid-19 response.
Where to start? We know that as countries across the globe were pleading for vaccine doses, U.S. pharmacies and state health departments were throwing millions of doses in the garbage. Wasted vaccines remain a worldwide health crisis. So, let’s find out as much as we can on how wasted medicine increases the overall cost of healthcare and denies access to medical care.
Health experts need to better examine the use and disposal of syringes – and what types of syringes should be used and when (not all syringes are the same). A misused syringe is a missed opportunity for a good health outcome. Earlier this month Politico reported, “Hospitals are throwing out doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine because the federal government is giving some of the facilities syringes that can only extract five doses from vials that often contain more.”
Medical centers, vaccine distribution sites, and hospitals should be incentivized to use ultra-low waste safety syringes. Unfortunately (and perhaps ironically), most syringes used in the U.S. are made in China and aren’t the ‘right fit’ for patient-efficient, cost-effective vaccine delivery.
In May of 2021, the FDA recommended against the use of syringes from a Chinese firm after safety concerns with vaccine injections. In fact, a simple google search will offer up numerous examples of how problem syringes caused myriad complications with vaccine dissemination, including cheap imports with dated technology. In too many of the imports, the syringe has a ‘dead space’ where a medicine or vaccine collects but can’t be applied. Syringe issues wasted valuable lifesaving medicine – and bad syringes led to millions of accidental needle-stick injuries jeopardizing the safety of our healthcare workers.
The Covid crisis uncovered countless gaps in the global medical supply chain. An after-action report would (and should) offer recommendations for America to improve on insourcing the production of medical goods and technologies, including syringes. The best product (technology/device) at the right time for the right patient at the best price. Our frontline workers deserve the very best medical tools to guarantee the highest access to care. In the syringe space – as in other medical supply areas – there are home-grown companies that offer the right products that won’t be impacted by supply-chain disruptions.
Sharps Technology, Inc. is an American firm that produces a syringe that is a ‘low-dead space’ device that virtually eliminates the issue of wasted doses, and it is designed to protect healthcare workers from dangerous needle stabs. Companies and healthcare products closer to the American patient with 21st Century innovation are less expensive and more efficient – and aren’t subject to disruptive changes in the supply chain.
Healthcare costs are a high priority to American consumers. In a post-Covid action-report, public health officials would surely recommend changes in how America delivers its medical care. For instance, low-waste syringes would save healthcare dollars as would better utilization of vaccines – and medical devices produced here as opposed to being manufactured in China would improve patient care by removing supply-chain interruptions. In a recent report Health Payer Intelligence News said, “National healthcare spending increased by nearly 10 percent in 2020 to $4.1 trillion, largely due to the spike in federal spending in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a Health Affairs report. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, it jumpstarted a series of changes in the healthcare industry. Health systems and clinics shut down, Americans delayed receiving healthcare services, health insurance coverage shifted due to unemployment, and the federal government increased its spending to support Covid-19-related actions.”
Medical progress hinges on healthcare providers having the right tools—like syringes and vaccines—to treat their patients. The right tool at the right time at the right cost.
