Notably, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) struggles to keep up with data collection on the virus. Which in turn ripples into policy challenges on the vaccination and booster implementation. So much so that the White House officials rely on foreign data to make its decision on what’s appropriate for the Americans.
Shocking as that may sound, it chips away the Big Data myth for me and turns it into a big disappointment. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a pandemic, and a global response is collaborative in nature. I get that. Nothing wrong with using the foreign data. It is how the US government functions (or not) is the point.
No wonder that the US ranks 13th (behind UK, France, Canada, and others) in its response to the pandemic. The situation will only be exacerbated with the on coming of the Omicron variant. Paradoxically, the richest nation in the world is incapable of getting ahead of the Coronavirus. Why? Because we are flying blind.
Running with Buddha 
Getting clean and consistent data is a challenge. Some agencies only recorded name and dob when they gave a test or vaccine. No demographics or other data that would help state public health agencies and the CDC better track outbreaks, who’s getting sick and to track variations in the virus.
Hopefully this money will help state and local agencies get the tech they need to collect better data.
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Yes indeed, Andy. With the Omicron coming fast and furious, it’s critical to get our public health infrastructure upgraded. This will not be the last pandemic we will sure. Thanks for you comments.
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