Lessons from the U.S.’s Rocky Vaccine Rollout

Summary

The rocky rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines is emblematic of many of the problems with the U.S. health care system. The United States is blessed with highly trained, excellent, and compassionate care providers and terrific research and development that has led to novel medical treatments. Yet, despite these many advantages, its health care system has an inability to deliver that excellence to patients in a consistent, high-quality, and cost-effective manner.

The current struggle to vaccinate the U.S. population is but one illustration of several larger and more-fundamental challenges facing the country’s health care system.