John Oliver on US monkeypox handling: ‘On a scale of 1 to 100, we got a no’ | John Oliver

J.Orn Oliver is monkeypox virusWhose spread in america “It’s really alarming,” especially since the disease often causes skin lesions that can be very painful. Despite the fact that it seems to replicate some of its major mistakes, including persecuting strangers, spreading misinformation, and grossly mismanaging the public health response,” Last said. the Week Tonight host said on Sunday.

Oliver started with monkeypox, the same family of pox viruses that cause smallpox. Humans present with fever, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, headache, and rash. Lesions that get into the eye can cause blindness and, rarely, death. The virus was first discovered in captive monkeys in Denmark in 1958, but is primarily carried by rodents. Monkeypox is endemic to rodents in central and western Africa, and has occasionally spread to humans for several years.

As of Oliver’s taping last week, the vast majority of monkeypox cases in the United States are in men who have had sex between men, are spread by sustained skin-to-skin contact, and are most commonly spread during sex. Rarely, the virus can be spread through respiratory droplets during prolonged close face-to-face contact or through bedding and towels used by monkeypox patients.

Oliver delves into a number of reasons why it is reasonable to believe that the outbreak in the United States can be controlled. “This was different early on in Covid when we didn’t know anything,” said Oliver. “Remember March 2020? [Fox News contributor] gerald [Rivera] He claimed on TV that he could test for Covid by holding his breath, and he did a show about the coronavirus on March 1, 2020.

“But with monkeypox, we are in the fortunate position of having existing tests, vaccines and treatments,” he continued. “Unfortunately, each of those deployments was woefully flawed.” Testing was initially siled within the CDC and its public health lab network, and eligibility criteria made the process slow and unwieldy. had become

On the vaccine front, the United States stockpiled smallpox vaccine after 9/11 for fear of bioweapons. Or, as Oliver put it, “He’s one of his one ways the War on Terror has made us safer.”but the United States Expire 20 million doses of monkeypox vaccine, “This doesn’t seem particularly conscientious,” said Oliver. Sharing the vaccine would have served him two purposes. Basic human decency and the vile selfishness that stopping the outbreak over there could have prevented the current outbreak here.

“Nevertheless, for some reason, like the expired Chobani and HBO Max’s $90 million movies, we keep vaccines unused and on the shelf in inventory,” he added. I mentioned Batgirl movie nearing completion shelved last week.At one point in the United States he had only 2,400 doses available and vaccination winning the lottery Or, as Oliver put it, “Healthcare’s Beyoncé concert tickets – announced almost without warning and gone in half an hour, so you’re probably at the top of your fucking lungs, ‘You don’t break my soul’ I will,” he will shout.

While there have been improvements in all areas, “the delay in resolving these issues was extremely frustrating,” says Oliver. hit hardest. “

“If monkeypox was spread primarily through heterosexual sex, you have to believe things would change dramatically,” he continued. You’ll get vax for free.”

“It is not homophobia to admit who is most affected right now,” says gay and bisexual men, sex workers, and those who participate in multi-partner sex. “Homophobia is defined as when we condemn or shame those who suffer, or because we do not regard their lives as worthy or their suffering as inevitable. It’s time to decide we don’t need to worry about this.

Looking ahead to the next critical six to eight weeks, Oliver said, “we need to ramp up testing and data collection to get vaccines and antivirals to those most in need.” More broadly, “we need to rebuild our public health system to better respond to virus outbreaks.” We got a no.

“For too long, we have indulged in the magical idea that a virus in another place is a) irrelevant and b) stays there,” he concluded. “Monkeypox is a very clear example of how flawed and racist that mindset can be. We gave them 10,000 doses, but they didn’t help them. And we still haven’t helped them.”