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Can we talk about testing for a minute? As you know, from day one of this virus we have been doing everything we can to increase testing in our state. Unfortunately, as a country we have gotten this very wrong. 1/
But let me start by sharing something our country is doing right. Operation Warp Speed and the pursuit of a vaccine could go down as one of the most brilliant coordinated health responses in history. 2/ https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/08/07/fact-sheet-explaining-operation-warp-speed.html
Picking multiple vaccines and manufactures, running protocols simultaneously instead of sequentially, and actually manufacturing vaccines before we know if they work is genius. I truly believe we will have multiple effective vaccines in large quantities and half the time. 3/
So, while I believe our vaccine development will be seen as the greatest success of our coronavirus story, I believe testing will go down as our country‘s greatest failure. Let me explain. 4/
Much has been written about the federal government’s failure to produce an accurate test back in February and the hellscape that was state fighting against state for limited supplies. I don’t need to rehash those issues. 5/
But now we are doing over 700,000 tests per day, so we should be good right? Not if we are doing It all wrong. And Dr. Mina, from Harvard thinks we are doing it all wrong (and I think he’s right). 6/
A few weeks ago I listened to a podcast that answered every testing question I had and laid out the solution to beating this virus. I was blown away. And since you probably don’t have time to listen to a wonky virology podcast I will try to summarize. 7/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-virology/id300973784?i=1000485148648
The FDA has prioritized tests that are very sensitive and highly accurate. They are also invasive, slow, and expensive. Invasive means people don’t get one unless they absolutely have to. Slow means people often don’t get results for several days and continue to infect others. 8/
And expensive means we are doing almost no asymptomatic testing (hospitals mostly refuse because insurance won’t cover it). And it is the asymptomatic spread of this disease that makes it so difficult to contain. But at least high sensitivity is good right? Wrong. 9/
It turns out that we are likely only contagious a couple days before symptoms and a few days after. With current PCR tests, it’s possible that some people are getting positive results and quarantining long after they stop being contagious. So what is the solution? 10/
We need cheap tests, easily administered that give rapid results. Imagine a strip of paper that reacts to saliva in five minutes...and only costs $1. Every child at every school. Every worker. Every person. Every day. We could virtually eliminated the virus in weeks. 11/
And here is the maddening part: The tech for these tests actually exists! What is missing is a nationally coordinated plan with a killer name like Operation Mandalorian (still workshopping it). But it’s not too late. We have the vaccination model, let’s use it for testing. 12/
In the meantime, we are doing everything possible to get faster and cheaper tests here. In fact, we just signed an agreement with several other states to bring thousands of 15-minute antigen tests to our state in the next two months. 13/ https://twitter.com/govlarryhogan/status/1291441796824719361
Finally, thank you for your sacrifice during this difficult time in our shared history. While there is much divisiveness and contention, there is more goodness and unity. Keep wearing those masks. Keep going outside. And keep physically distancing. We’ve got this. /end
PS While searching for something else, I just discovered that Harvard magazine did an article summarizing the podcast I mentioned. Haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure it’s much better than my tweets. But thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/08/covid-19-test-for-public-health
PPS I met with representatives from HHS yesterday and tried to make the case for reimagining testing. My hope is that if the chorus grows we will start to see some action.
