Gov. Baker: Fix vaccine mess. Pulling vaccines from communities' boards of health a colossal mistake

 

This an open letter to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker:
Dear Charlie:
Please do the people of Massachusetts (it’s a Commonwealth in name only as NO ONE is together as all special interests are trying to leap over everyone else to get a vaccine) and resign immediately!
You must do this because you and your fellow tone-deaf, pinhead bureaucrats have failed miserably with the laughable effort that you have put forth for the vaccine rollout, which has gone from mediocre and frustrating to awful and nonsensical in ludicrous speed. (That term is from the movie “Spaceballs” and if you’re not a fan of  that Mel Brooks' film, then all you have to  know is that the term wasn't meant as a compliment.)
For nearly a year now, the people of Massachusetts have been at the mercy of your imperial decrees, which have been issued under so-called emergency powers based on a very old state law.
Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled Legislature has been AWOL during all of this. Lawmakers have completely abnegated their responsibilities; instead of challenging your austere response to the pandemic, they acted like sheep and let you and your compassion-less bureaucratic pals run amok as your administration has destroyed the state’s restaurant industry and small businesses while allowing the likes of Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target and other big box stores to remain open uninterrupted. That made you a friend of corporate America, but didn't do a damned thing for the rest of us straggling to deal with this pandemic that has stolen our humanity and threatened our mental health.
Still, a lot of this economic hardship could be excused because you had your heart in the right place in the pandemic’s early days as the vast majority of the state’s residents – except for those in nursing homes and veterans' homes, who you failed miserably – were kept safe.
But now, as you and your misguided allies should have been enjoying good PR over the long-awaited vaccine rollout, you’ve bungled it to the point where it’s looked at times like the architects of the state’s vaccine plan were named Moe, Larry and Curly.
Since the rollout began, you’ve had more changes than chocolate chips in a Keebler cookie. Hospitals had the vaccine and then they didn’t …. you had a priority list that’s changed hourly ….. you gave it to prisoners while the vast majority of correctional employees refused the vaccine …. you started the national laughingstock idea of allowing younger companions to get shots, which led to people making a mockery of the state by advertising for companions on Craigslist ….. you made a lot of other unnecessary changes that only have muddled the effort and turned the rollout into a model of obfuscation.
The final straw was your administration’s foolish and heartless decision on Wednesday (Feb. 17) to deny the very people who know best how to distribute vaccines – the local boards of health – any shots so they’re now in the tragic and dangerous position of having to deny their most vulnerable populations access to the shots that they so badly need.
What you and your bunch of bureaucrats --- all of whom apparently lack a shred of common sense --- fail to understand is that many of these people have mobility issues and as such can’t easily get to mass vaccination sites like Gillette Stadium --- with or without companions --- and most of them won’t even try.
What you and those despicable bureaucrats --- who should be fired and sent to Mars on a one-way ticket --- fail to understand is that those vulnerable populations are comfortable with their local officials, have gotten numerous vaccines from them, including the yearly flu vaccine, and would have been eager to go to in-town clinics.
Now, they will be unwilling and unable to trek to a much bigger venue, and as a result, many will remain without the vaccine.
Another reason to give the vaccine to local people is that --- unlike your atrocious website (which, of course, crashed today, Feb. 18 --- the first day those aged 65-74 became eligible) --- local governments are far more reliable, and those officials could have far more easily booked appointments.
So governor, even though I realize you won’t quit and you’ll defend this bungled effort, know that no one 65 or older should even think of voting for you again should you be foolish enough to seek a third term.
You have failed at your biggest test of leadership by not listening to --- and totally ignoring --- local officials.
If you have an ounce of compassion left toward the residents of Massachusetts, I implore you to immediately reverse your dumb decision and give hundreds of doses a week to those who know what to do with them: the local boards of health.

RELATED STORIES:
1. Local officials, including Attleboro’s mayor, slam the governor and his administration for their decision to stop having local boards of health conduct vaccine clinics.
LINK to the FEB. 18 Sun Chronicle story: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/coronavirus/attleboro-officials-angry-over-governors-latest-plan-to-distribute-vaccines/article_647a2941-da7f-59dd-8f81-1f0aecafee8a.html
2. Baker’s “brilliant” move royally backfires as state’s deplorable website crashes on the first day that about 1 million Massachusetts residents ages 65-74 were added to the list of those eligible for what remains a woefully inadequate amount of available vaccine.
LINK TO THE SUN CHRONICLE STORY POSTED ON FEB. 18: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/coronavirus/frustration-mounts-in-attleboro-area-across-the-state-over-vaccination-website-woes/article_17accae6-a075-5c52-974e-45e9e9566890.html