Sunday, January 17, 2021

Oops! Trump/GOP shorts Wisconsin and US on vaccines. So Vos/Assembly GOP blames...Evers?

While the impeachment and fallout from the Capitol Riot of 1/6 rightfully were the biggest headlines of last week, there was another disaster led from this Administration last week. It turns out the Trump Admin lied about how many vaccines were available.
Both the coronavirus vaccines currently authorized in the U.S. require two doses to be fully effective. So when distribution of first doses began, the Trump administration held back matching second doses to make sure recipients would be fully protected against COVID-19. Amid a massive demand for more doses, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced earlier this week that the department would begin doling out those reserved doses to more people, saying increased production speed would make up for the soon-to-be-depleted reserve.

But as officials soon learned, the federal government had stopped stockpiling second dose vaccines weeks ago, they tell the Post. Both first and second doses were instead taken right off the manufacturing line. That meant Azar's announcement reportedly released a stockpile that didn't exist. The U.S. had already reached its maximum distribution capacity, and new doses distributors were expecting next week weren't coming, the Post reports.

HHS spokesperson Michael Pratt confirmed in an email to the Post that the last of the reserve had been taken out for shipment this weekend. He didn't acknowledge Azar's comments, but said Operation Warp Speed had "always intended to transition from holding second doses in reserve as manufacturing stabilizes and we gained confidence in the ability for a consistent flow of vaccines." he also said states had only ordered 75 percent of the vaccines available to them.
Well, given that the vaccines ARE GONE, I guess it's a good thing that states didn't order more, eh?

As you'd imagine, governors that were left in the dark about the lack of vaccines were not pleased.

Evers said when he and other governors spoke with Pence and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar earlier this week, Pence and Azar gave the impression that they'd be shipping states vaccine doses that had been stockpiled.

"I guess they may have been telling the truth, because it's zero," Evers said.

Evers said it led the governors on the call to believe that the country would be in good shape to provide second doses of the vaccine that the federal government previously said it would hold back to ensure proper supply.....

Also on Friday, Evers — along with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — sent Azar a letter urging him to allow states to directly purchase doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

"It has become abundantly clear that not only has the Trump administration botched the rollout of the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, but also that the American people have been misled about these delays," they said.
And that's not the only screw-up that TrumpWorld has caused, which has delayed the vaccine out to Americans. Like many other states, Wisconsin is intending to use local pharmacies to vaccinate people living in assisted living centers and similar large-resident settings. But Trump Admin policy and the convoluted program that is part of it is getting in the way. So you're telling me that a centralized, government-directed distribution program works better than the fragmented mess that we have today? I'm shocked, SHOCKED!

Which makes lines like these from Wisconsin Republicans to be all the more craven BS. Hey Robbin', seems like the problem is that there is no plan from DC on how many of these vaccines will go out, who should get them, and the places they should be able to get them at. But God Forbid, a Republican ever hold another GOP responsible for the messes they cause.

This is what happens when you put a Swampy drug company exec in charge of the nation's public health, and would anyone be surprised to find out that Azar and TrumpWorld are being cut in on some kind of deal with vaccine distribution that directs big $$$ to some company they are associated with? Me neither.

Meanwhile, the economy continues to falter with few Americans vaccinated, and COVID cases and casualties continuing to rise. That's also true in Wisconsin, where 128 more people were reported dead due to COVID, setting another new one-day record in the state. And we continue to have more than 2,000 new cases a day in the state 10 months after the first cases were reported here.

But instead of trying to step up and have a role in stopping the spread of the virus and getting more people vaccinated, Robbin' Vos and Jim Steineke and the rest of the Assembly Republicans want to stop new measures that Evers and the Wisconsin Senate have agreed to. This is all talk-radio-based GARBAGE that has nothing to do with funding and supporting the effort to get Wisconsinites vaccinated, and has nothing to do with giving economic relief to the many Wisconsinites struggling through the COVID Winter. And for what? So Wisconsin continues to struggle with COVID for much of 2021 and citizens get even moree angry and frustrated?

Sadly, I think that is their goal. Because Assembly GOPs care more about trying to lay the blame on Evers and gain politically instead of make things better for all Wisconsinites (which getting people vaccinated would certainly do). And that fact needs to be called out and hammered into the heads of people throughout the state - Republicans don't care how much you get hurt, as long as they think they can gain from it.

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1 comment:

  1. KatrinaJanuary 17, 2021 at 4:04 PM

    I read that Evers has $3.4 million in the bank if he decides to run for re-election in 2022. That seems to indicate that there is little frustration with Evers.

    ReplyDelete