commentary

milt thomas

As fast as the schedule for coronavirus vaccines is announced, it is closed, literally within a few minutes. The reaction among seniors is so overwhelming it must remind them of trying to obtain tickets for a Beatles concert back in the day. But this is much more serious. As the rate of infections, hospitalizations and deaths surges, people are desperate to receive what amounts to a life-saving shot in the arm.

So what is the problem? For those who have served in the military, the term for it is not printable here. It is a combination of poor coordination, incoherent distribution, lack of planning, misinformation…let me get my thesaurus for more terms. It starts with a president who could not care less about a pandemic, a governor who follows his attempt at mis-leading so he can qualify as the president’s heir apparent in the 2024 presidential election, a hospital system at best confused and a county health department trying to do the right thing in spite of the wrong chaos at the worst time.

At least we do not have to deal with the riot of perceived grievances that we saw in DC last Wednesday. If seniors did riot over the mishandling of vaccine distribution, at least they would have a good reason for doing so. But their fear of becoming infected probably kept them on the sidelines. Plus this is an equal opportunity screw up – people from every race are affected. In Washington, the aggrieved only included white people, most of whom don’t believe there is a pandemic judging from the lack of facemasks (bison heads and face paint do not count as deterrents against this or any other virus).

So, all I can advise you at this point is to keep wearing your face masks and continue practicing social distancing. In fact, you should continue to do that even after the vaccine. For those who agree with the mob that this virus is no different than the flu or a head cold, please stay home and at least take vitamin C.