A remarkable democratic process is taking place in our own community right now. Nurses at Maine Medical Center are organizing in preparation for a vote on March 29 that will decide whether they will form a local nurses union. If the vote is in favor of a union they will gain collective bargaining power which, proponents say, will allow them to take better care of their patients and themselves. If the vote does not pass, Maine Medical Center will maintain its authority to unilaterally determine nurses’ wages, hours and working conditions.

My vaccination will allow me to do my job safely and start seeing more patient in person again. It will allow me a little less worry about spreading COVID to my family at home. I'm not going to go visit my elderly relatives, I'm not going to go out to bars and restaurants, and I'm not going to stop wearing my mask and social distancing.

Remember we are all in this together. Until we are all protected, we are all still vulnerable. Continued vigilance is key to weathering this storm.

Other countries have done a better job with this public health task. The U.K. has a National Health Service system. Most doctors are public employees in a single system. As such, it would be very difficult to create inequity within that system. Or consider how Israel has a robust community clinic system. They have been incredibly efficient at vaccinating not only health care workers but also the citizens – who have easy access to local clinics. The U.S. has public infrastructure as well. We could utilize our fire stations, libraries, and schools in the next phase of vaccination.

In the United States we have entrusted our health care and public health to large private institutions that have failed to keep us healthy and treat us equitably. Covid has illustrated the deficiencies of our current system. It may be too late to modify our health system for this crisis, but we cannot afford to let the system continue in its current form into the next crisis.

Infectious disease is at the forefront of people’s minds across the world. Specifically, Covid-19 is an unprecedented global pandemic that is taking lives and causing suffering on a massive scale. As of this month there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Not only do we have a vaccine that may stop the spread of disease, but we have a better handle on therapeutics that can decrease mortality.

On November 3rd voters in Portland, Maine passed a ballot initiative paving the way for workers in the city to receive among the highest minimum wages in the country. In addition to a $15 minimum wage, essential workers will receive a time and a half minimum wage during declared states of emergency [which at the current $12 minimum wage comes to $18/hour]. This victory follows a nationwide movement dubbed “the fight for fifteen,” that has won increases in the minimum wage in other cities across America.