For starters, I'm glad Vice-President Pence got his vaccine shot for all the world to see. I'd rather have that than have him discourage its use by the general public a la Tucker Carlson. I'm also glad that he wore a damn mask unlike that time he went to the Mayo Clinic.
But if Pence got his vaccine shot today then when do the rest of us get ours? Pfizer is ready to ship the vaccine, but the federal government is telling states they'll not be receiving the amount of vaccine they were expecting. This certainly doesn't inspire confidence but given the Trump Administration's malfeasance on all matters COVID-19 can we be surprised at this development?
Fortunately, the Trump Administration will cease to be in less than five weeks. I have confidence the Biden Administration will handle this in relatively short order. But that's a double edged sword. How many more people will get sick in the next 33 days? How many people will require hospitalization? And how many will die?
Now the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (and whatever other vaccines might be approved along the way) will be disseminated in order of priority as determined by the states. But the timeline of that prioritization is in great part determined by the federal government and that timeline is anyone's guess under the Trump Administration. Let me put it this way. If Biden were President now then in 33 days from now there would be a certain segment of the population getting their second dose.
It's great to have a vaccine. But if it's sitting in cold storage then it won't end the pandemic.
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