Yasmeen Abutaleb, health policy reporter at The Washington Post, joins Steve Morrison and Andrew Schwartz for this 136th episode.

The Biden administration struggles on multiple fronts, from systemic dysfunction within agencies to increased polarization of virtually every measures to mitigate Covid-19. The administration wants to invest in a long-term vaccine strategy that protects against multiple variants in advance -- but lacks the resources. Omicron taught us:  "You can't start buying stuff when the wave has started.” "The disinformation problem is so widespread"  that "… everyone in the Biden administration is going to be distrusted by half of America." The US government has not staged a powerful Covid-19 messaging campaign on social media, and a national commission on the pandemic, with real bipartisan leadership, remains out of reach.  Courts are exercising considerable sway over health security policy which require a careful political calculations. Would appealing federal Judge Mizell’s April 18 injunction against the national mask mandate on transport ultimately leave the CDC in a weakened position? Americans continue to experience the pandemic in vastly different ways, depending on socio-economic profile. Many who have protections through vaccines and treatments may feel they will be exempt from infection, yet they make up a significant share of those experiencing severe illness.