Hoarding vaccines for friends of the state

According to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of February 27, 2021 8:00 a.m. ET, under the management of Governor Gavin Newsom, California was sitting on 3,021,180 unused doses of the COVID vaccines. That hoard is 26.1% of all doses distributed to the state since mid-December. Several other states — Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Montana, to name three — have used over 90% of the doses distributed to those states. Why the snafu in the Golden State?

The big reason is politics. The leadership of the teachers’ unions successfully lobbied Newsom to reserve 10% of all vaccines for members of their unions. Other politicians have managed to redirect vaccinations to their own constituencies. Of course if you know the right people you can jump the line. All this in violation of the CDC’s guidelines to vaccinate and protect those most likely to die from COVID … the aged, especially those with co-morbidities.

This unfair, inconsistent, inequitable allocation hurts people who have been housebound for a year, who haven’t seen their children or grandchildren since last March, who have put off for a year visiting their doctors and dentists, who are afraid to even get a haircut. That strategy doesn’t help people, maybe one of your family or friends, who will die a breathless, gasping death because the state of California is hoarding their COVID vaccines. Tell Gov. Newsom you want things done the right way, the fair way. Call him: 916 445-2841.

— EJ Donmoyer, Paradise