The Premonition: Part 3 Discussion

[Kyli]

In Part 3 of The Premonition, we learned about DeRisi’s continued involvement in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the formation of the Zuckerberg BioHub for COVID-19 testing. We also gained insight about complications with testing in the US due to lack of resources/issues with the National Strategic Stockpile, costs associated with testing, and the time it was taking for tests to result from bigger labs like Quest and LabCorp. Please feel free to pick any of the discussion questions below to respond to or share general reactions to Part 3 or the book as a whole. We are looking forward to an engaging discussion with you all!

1. What were your overall thoughts about Part 3 and/or the book as a whole?

2. Has reading this book changed your perspective or opinion about the federal government, CDC, and/or public health systems here in the US? Why or why not?

3. Do you think the US is adequately prepared to respond to the next infectious disease outbreak after learning what we did throughout the COVID-19 pandemic? Why or why not?

[Kristy]

I don't know that my perspective has changed much, but I'm definitely skeptical of the federal government/CDC's ability to handle major public health threats. Unfortunately, I'm not sure there's an easy solution either. It seems like the systems just get tied up in an inability to make any big decisions because of how they'll affect other things or everyone thinks it's someone else's job to actual do something. I see this on a small scale at my place of work (small nonprofit social service agency) and it seems to just get amplified in larger government. It's actually a bit terrifying to think of future pandemics—maybe there are internal changes happening though. One can hope?