Who are the decision makers regarding the Covid epidemic?
From the birth of our nation, federal and states’ rights have been in conflict. In a war, it’s easy to understand the decision makers are the politicians in Washington. In a war with a virus, it’s not so simple.
Our country is structured to give responsibility for crises to federal, state and city officials. And then, local officials sometimes opt out, or opt into, contradictory orders. Is this system effective and functional?
For sure it is, unless the interested parties jockey for political points. Then it can become a sh**storm. In this day and age, nobody cooperates and negotiates in good faith. The president fights with governors, governors fight with mayors, mayors fight with unions, unions fight with parents, and so on.
There are even intra organizational battles taking place all the time. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House is continually at odds with Republicans in the House, Republicans and Democrat senators and even members of her own party in the House. Consider AOC and her squad of radical liberals.
If our leaders would work together, compromise and take control and stand up against evil doers, criminals, terrorists, murders, bigots, misogynists, racists and the pandemic, we could do make some revolutionary progress.
The vaccine for Covid is going to be the subject of the next epic battle between our political leaders. Governors will compete with other governors for limited vaccine supplies. Everybody will have a different cascade of how the vaccine should be delivered.
Should first responders be the first on the list, then old people, and what about sick old people who will likely die? Are we going to triage sick Americans? And who comes next? Is it reckless young people because they are anxious to party, congregate and raise hell in high school and college? Or should 40 to 60-year-olds be next? What about people of all ages with dangerous medical conditions? How do we prove that these people are really at risk?
And finally, we have those who don’t want to take any vaccine at all because Donald Trump was involved in the production of these lifesaving medicines, in record time. There’s a lot to be concerned with in this regard.
Supposedly, the potions being produced are efficient. Will they stop individuals who had recovered from contracting the flu again, or will they have to be inoculated once more. When can an individual safely go to a crowded restaurant or bar, school or work after taking the vaccine? Can an inoculated person infect someone who has not taken the vaccine? Like a grandpa or grandma?
The timing of the whole vaccination process is really up in the air. Return to normalcy maybe more than a year away.