Hi, it's Diane. On my mind, a p-roll out of the new COVID vaccine.

Insurers and in-network and out-of-network and supply issues.

Last month, the FDA approved a new shot to combat the virus, but many people around the

country have had trouble getting it.

Lena's son is a national reporter for the Washington Post, focusing on public health

and infectious disease. She says, is he is what happens when something goes from a public

good to a commercial product.

What that has done is highlighted the completely Byzantine, lousy healthcare system that we

have in the United States.

Lena's son joined me to talk about the vaccine and just how dangerous COVID is today.

Lena, the rollout of the vaccine for COVID that was supposed to start in September, has not

been very smooth. I myself have been trying weekly and finally got an appointment in mid-October.

What's happening with it?

So there are a couple things happening. I think on the one hand, the public,

after the pandemic, has gotten used to the idea of walking into a pharmacy and getting a shot,

for free very easily. And we are now reverting to a commercialized vaccine.

And so what that has done is highlighted in relief the completely Byzantine,

lousy healthcare system that we have in the United States, where there are insurers and in

network and out of network and supply issues. So in this case, even though the manufacturers and

the distributors knew ahead of time that this was coming, there were a couple factors leading

to this bumpy rollout. On the supply side, apparently the distributors were not quite ready in the

warehouse and logistics to do all the things they needed to do. On the ordering side, I understand

...