It shouldn’t be this hard getting vaccine to people

The Postal Service delivers mail to our homes practically every day. Why couldn’t government also bring us vaccinations?

Why couldn’t some vaccinator from the government — or a health care provider it contracts with — knock on the door with a COVID-19 vaccine and stick it in our arms?

Sure, the inoculator would need to be a nurse — or physician’s assistant — maybe accompanied by a security guard.

It would be very costly. But so are the federal government’s multitrilliondollar pandemic relief packages.

Until the vast majority of us get vaccinated, hard times will continue for much of the country.

“Ifweget70%to85% of the country vaccinated — let’s say by the end of the summer, middle of the summer — I believe by the time we get to the fall, we will be approaching a degree of normality,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top expert on infectious diseases, told White House reporters last week.

OK, maybe home delivery of vaccinations is the silly fantasy of an impractical simpleton — one who grew up, however, in an era of home doctor visits that worked great.

But all governments — federal, state and local — had 10 months lead time to plan a better vaccine distribution system than what we currently have. In some communities, it’s working OK. In others, it’s confusing and chaotic.

Everyone knew the only cure for the pandemic was a vaccine. But governments and providers are bogged down trying to get the vaccine into people’s arms.

Websites crash. Or they’re unnavigable for average minds. Phones are never answered and don’t take messages.

I do know four people over 75 who have gotten shots. Three did so fairly easily through their counties — Fresno and San Luis Obispo. The fourth, in Santa Clara County, encountered an awkward provider website and gave up. But she knew are tired nurse who guided her to a shot.

In California — as in many states — the vaccine rollout has been agonizingly slow.

Hundreds of thousands of doses were left sitting on shelves. Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded vaccination eligibility to people 65 and older, an age group that has accounted for roughly 75% of COVID-19 deaths nationwide. Then phone lines were flooded by seniors and became inoperable.

Local health officials complain they’ve received only a fraction of the doses they’ve requested.

But nobody in Sacramento seems to be really sure of anything. Top officials are quibbling over the accuracy of data collected by an inefficient system rather than focusing all their energy on getting people vaccinated.

Newsom has gotten much of the blame, especially from Republicans

trying to recall him. That’s largely because he set himself up for failure by seizing the mantle of pandemic leadership — as he should have as governor. But Newsom’s edicts often have been conflicting and confusing.

One dilemma for any California governor is the state’s geographic diversity. “One size doesn’t fit all” is not just a cliche. California has 61 local health departments with different operations.

“A lot is done by the counties, a lot by providers, a lot by pharmacies,” says Anthony Wright, who heads Health Access California, a Sacramento health care lobby, and sits on Newsom’s vaccine advisory committee.

“Moving California is like moving a steamship. Only it’s not really a steamship, it’s a flotilla.”

President Joe Biden is providing some relief for Newsom. Unlike former President Donald Trump, who tried to avoid fighting COVID-19, Biden is wading into the battle. He even invoked the Defense Production Act to ramp up manufacturing of vaccination weapons.

“For a nation waiting for action,” Biden proclaimed, “help is on the way.”

So maybe Newsom’s off the hook. But probably not.

He should consider home delivery, especially for us seniors. Ask the new president for help.