Hey, Joe. We haven’t forgotten about you, our 46th president. There’s something I’d like to bring to your attention, I’m sure you have a little more time on your hands these days than you probably expected to a few months ago, so perhaps you can squeeze me in.

By the way, I thought Dana Carvey’s portrayal of you on the season premiere of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” was a little mean-spirited and not too funny. Sometimes people can parody too far, and that show is having a hard time creating satire about this absurd political era we’re living in.

But back to the thing. As many people know, the new COVID-19 booster came out a few weeks ago.This one is different from its predecessors in that it is equipped to fight off the more recent variants that have been causing problems. It’s also different for another reason. 

If you are an uninsured person, then this will be the first COVID-19 vaccine that you pay for at your local pharmacy and, to use your parlance – it ain’t cheap. The shot is comparable to the cost of smartwatch, air fryer or wireless earbuds – $200.

“This means that purely uninsured people do not have access to get free Covid shots,” said Lori Freeman, chief executive officer for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. “We know that cost, at this moment in time with the economy, is even more of a burden than ever.”

She’s right and the approximately 26 million people in the U.S. who are uninsured would likely agree. Many of the uninsured are people of color, according to a report from KFF, an independent source for health policy research, polling and news, and would be more likely to feel the impact of this change. According to KFF: “Disparities in coverage persisted as of 2022. Non-elderly AIAN and Hispanic people had the highest uninsured rates at 19.1% and 18%, respectively as of 2022. Un-insured rates for non-elderly Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (12.7%) and Black people (10.0%) also were higher than the rate for their White counterparts (6.6%).”

Joe, I know you remember how we got here, but let me go over it one more time. In the early days of the pandemic, vaccines were purchased by the federal government and given away for free. Last year, the shots moved to the commercial market and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Bridge Access Program still provided free COVID-19 vaccines to adults without insurance and to those whose insurance didn’t fully cover it. Federal funding for this program ran out last month and it stopped. COVID-19 levels are high and rising, according to wastewater surveillance data from the CDC. We can’t afford to have some of the most vulnerable people in our country, those without health insurance, to also be put further at risk by putting a hefty price tag on viral immunity. Joe, we can’t afford to go backward in our fight against COVID-19.

There must be a way to fund this program. Let’s continue the fight.