It’s going to be a while.
Dr. Vivek Murthy, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for surgeon general, poured some cold water on the Trump administration’s rosy vaccine distribution timeline on Sunday.
The General fell on his sword to protect the Emperor without clothes
And yet, sadly, the Republicans will keep things agitated and blame Biden for not getting the vaccine to everyone by March, like Azar promised. And MAGAts will believe it.
Operation Warped Speed.
I think that intelligent people knew that Rump and his people painted a rosy picture. Coupled with inaction in creating stimulus for the economy and security for American citizens, this has been intentional. These people don’t have blood running through their veins. They want to make it harder for Biden before he can begin his programs.
How refreshing to hear a competent and honest official say the rosiest estimates may not be correct. At least you can think yourself about how much more determination you need, how much longer you have to wait for this and that, you can decide how to plan for the expected conditions, all that fun stuff. It’s nice to be treated like a damn adult, and it’s nice to know in a few weeks the effort will be taken over by people able and willing to do the job.
Glad to hear a realistic take on the pace of vaccinations. Biden chooses competence over sycophancy. There will be more hiccups. Over promising is never good but something that Trump always does. He then blames everyone but himself for delays or failures. Murthy advocates patience without destroying hope and I love his calm but serious manner.
The honesty of the Biden administration is going to be refreshing, as well as the decency. We will again be told things that we can trust…and every single mistake will be excoriated by Republicans who ignored the tens of thousands of lies told by Trump and his underlings. Let’s hope the press has learned something and actually holds Republicans accountable for their behavior going forward.
I think Murthy has it about right…vaccine distribution is going to be messy because of the incompetence of the Trump administration and how it impacts even people who know what they are doing. It will take time for him and the other Biden officials to clean up the mess (in the face of Republican intransigence and blockage of funding), but they will get it sorted out and the vaccine out to us. If they do what I expect, it’s going to be July before the vaccine is available to anyone who wants it…that will be helped by the people who refuse to take it, but man of them will be forced by their work or desire to travel.
We still have a long road, and will lose many more people until we get there…all of that is due to the Trump administration and should never be forgotten.
Absolutely. And the next set of problems aren’t just with distribution, but in-fighting to see which groups are considered “essential workers” next in line after health care workers. This NYT article covers some of it. A few sample paragraphs:
In New York, emergency responders like police officers, transit workers and those who maintain power grids and other critical infrastructure will almost certainly be part of the next wave, according to a state plan.
But the remaining uncertainty has led to clamoring for consideration in state capitols and in Washington from a wide array of businesses and workers. Tens of millions of Americans, designated as essential, continue to toil amid the pandemic’s dangers while others work from home.
The list of those who qualified as essential in New York, in order to continue working through virus-related shutdowns, stretched from chiropractors to landscapers to bicycle mechanics. That long list has allowed all sorts of industries to claim they should also be among the first for the vaccine.
Landscapers? Bicycle repair? When everyone is “essential” then nobody is essential. Factor in all the very wealthy trying to cut in line, and it’s going to get real messy, real soon.
Agreed, but the Press and individuals can fight back against lies. We need to keep reminding everyone that President Trump and the Republican Party leadership and members played politics while US citizens died because they didn’t want to do what was necessary. It has been estimated that over 175,000 US covid-19 fatalities are attributed to decisions based on politics and not best scientific/medical practice that led to these extra deaths. After the election, the President and his Administration are MIA. And people are dying as a consequence.
The refusal to deal with reality is a major reason for the surge in fatalities that will only get worse over the next month. The Republican Party put their extreme right-wing ambitions over saving US lives. We won’t even bring up Russian hacking and that damage to our security. The Republican Party does not deserve a seat at the table - make them earn everything. Never forget, never forgive.
It’s good to see that Biden is managing expectations a bit better than Obama was at this point.
Warped Speed Operation
Speed Operation Warped, where’s the weft in all this?
At the medical center in Boston where I work, we are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated but since they’re currently EUA it can’t be made mandatory (like the flu vaccine is). They started giving shots last week; since I’m working remotely almost exclusively atm l won’t be vaccinated until next month probably. 
I absolutely agree. And yet we will keep hearing the trumpeted cries of “fake news!”
MAGATs believe we eat babies, Biden is a pedophile, and Trump (along with JKF Jr.) is saving the world. We can’t waste anymore time worrying about what crazy people think.
True. I don’t think essentiality and risk are the same thing. People who fix the power lines are essential, and should be free to work during a lockdown, but their risk is fairly low. It’s your proximity to infected or potentially infected people and your personal risk factors that should govern this. Then you mask up, distance, and wait your turn. This seems pretty straightforward to me.
Exactly. I mean, there is hardly any meat on a baby. Young adults, now…that’s another story 
Get to work! Meanwhile, I believe my recently vaccinated bod will lounge on the veranda with my mint julep. Sucks to be y’all.
Gee. Lil Marco, you mean like people at the white house hosting super spreader events? Those people?