-“Sorry, Doc…We must first vaccinate the power players of South Florida…You have to keep waiting.”
That was the laconic and pitiful answer of the Chief of Pharmacy of one of the outpatient facilities in South Florida that has already received a batch of the precious Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines upon inquiring when, as a licensed medical practitioner in Florida, we could come up to get dully vaccinated. The upcoming arrival of the Oxford-AstaZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines will certainly follow the same “entitlement pathway.” The disgraceful planning of the Trump administration (leaving all the operational moves to distribute them to the ill-equipped states) has only worsened the awful Public Health picture of the worst month of the pandemic in the USA. What is left of the much vaunted Warp Speed is just a shameful priority given to Power and Privilege in the USA.
Note – This image was taken from Wikimedia Commons.
How can you justify that some unscrupulous politicians have long refused to wear masks in Congress and the White House, given mischievous messages about the severity of the pandemic and now jump the line to get the vaccine?
In an excellent article in The Washington Post, Fenit Nirappil, Isaac Stanley-Becker and William Wran wrote: ” Public officials and politicians are among the first in line for vaccines that have yet to reach all health care workers and wil not become available for months. They are showcasing their vaccinations on television and in social posts to encourage Americans to trust the injections that may spell the end of the pandemic. But some essential workers and other Americans are expressing outrage that they must wait for protection even as leaders who failed to control the pandemic first receive shots first.”
The silly argument that they are “doing us a favor” by demonstrating that “it is safe to get the vaccines” does not hold the minimal intellectual and emotional evaluation. Deadbeat politicians, we do know they are safe because thousands upon thousand of volunteers across the globe and hard-working scientists have already vetted them. We do not need to watch your hypocritical little smiles on TV to rub your “special privileges” on our faces. Who are you trying to fool? Certainly not he millions of dedicated health care professionals of all stripes that do treat patients.
Justice now for the equitable. rational and efficient allotment of the Covid-19 vaccines!
Stay distant. Stay safe. Stay beautiful.
What do you think? Please tell us.
Don’t leave me alone.