To some degree that’s true, however even if everyone got their vaccine as soon as possible, I suspect we’d very much still be in the same boat. Remember that boosters were not authorized until November 19th or 20th. Omicron hit the news November 24th. While having a bunch of eligible people still un-boosted at this time (seniors, immuncompromised, healthcare providers) definitely adds to the demand unnecessarily, the overwhelming bulk of the population eligible were not beforehand.
A lot more could have been done to inform people of boosters and eligibility times. I came across countless seniors who got the J&J and had no idea they were due for a booster after just 2 months. Plus there is a complete lack of knowledge around the acceptability of mixing and matching vaccines. Tons of resources went into pushing vaccines, by comparison very little went into pushing boosters. At least around here.
Sure, resources are limited, but it depends what we’re talking about. In terms of vaccines, we have so many stockpiled that millions are at risk of expiring and being dumped. The problem there is vaccination sites. My state and many others took down temporary mass vax sites long ago. Thats fine considering they were no longer really needed, but they should have the ability to go back into place within a couple weeks.
I think most would agree testing has never got quite to where it needs to be and is certainly lacking compared the countries doing it best. At the point, the issue is less about the lack of physical infrastructure (machines, processing labs) and more about the collection infrastructure. Not to mention now on-site, rapid PCR is far more common.
As for rapid tests, this goes hand in hand with the lack of testing in this country. The cost issue should have been addressed long ago. Insurance reimbursement is the right thing to do, but not via manual claims reimbursement. That’s too time energy/consuming for what it is, too much opportunity for claims not to be paid, and doesn’t sold the cost issue if it takes 2 months to get reimbursed. More tests would be demanded if the price was there. Companies are reluctant to make more despite having the capacity over fear they won’t be purchased (like with H1N1). And by the time the govt sets up their mail order test program, this wave will probably be over with.
Both test sample collection and vaccination are not rocket science and do not require medical degrees. Many of the people giving vaccines at mass vaccination sites were nursing students and EMTs. The government could spend 2hrs training natural guardsmem/women and deploy them as needed with a medical practitioner supervising each site. Sites could then easily be scaled up and down as needed.
My question is in that month of travel bans to create time to respond, other than sitting around for more data to come in what was the government doing to prepare? It’s much like what happened prior to the first wave. It wasn’t until the virus hit hard everyone started scrambling to source more ventilators and more PPE.
Sure, we cannot predict the future. New strains were likely to occur. A Christmas wave was inevitable. We need to learn how to be flexible and adaptive as the threat evolves and fluctuates.
and flocked to get our shots, we’d be way ahead of where we are. The reason it has been drawn out for so long is in part because of My Libertay to be a Stupid Selfish Ass, and sinister politicians who purposely placed doubts and false reasons for distrust in their Koolaid drinkers’ brains. Now we are asked to wear masks to protect the dummies who are perpetuating this pandemic. 
