CUOMO’S VACCINE CHARADE: RAEL JEAN iSAAC
When Cuomo’s initial limited vaccine roll out proved disastrous—vaccines were being thrown out because of the difficulty of finding patients who exactly matched strict guidelines while huge penalties loomed if anyone else was vaccinated—the governor decided that as of January 11, New York State would also vaccinate people who fell into the next priority class, including teachers and those over 75 years old.
My husband and I live in Westchester County, are both over 75, and decided to register for vaccination. So, on Jan. 11, we went to the state web site (Covid19vaccine.healthny.gov/what you should know) and discovered what we should know was that we should call a local Rite Aid for an appointment, with the phone number given for various Rite Aids. As any five year old could have foreseen (but not apparently the “experts” employed by the governor), all you got by phoning was a busy signal. (A Northwell Hospital web address was given as an alternative. I hit that and was informed there were no slots available.)
Given the permanent busy signal, today (Monday) I went into one of the Rite Aids listed on the web site. I spoke to the pharmacist who said they had no vaccines and had never had any vaccines and to the best of his knowledge no Rite Aid had received any vaccines.
If you go to the health/gov website now there has been a change. In a slight bow to reality, the Rite Aids are still listed but unlike yesterday, the viewer is cautioned to wait a few days before trying to make contact. There are assorted other individual pharmacies listed with their phone numbers suggesting the state is claiming they have the vaccine. Of course if you try to phone any of them all you get is the inevitable busy signal.
Our son is computer savvy and managed to get the email of the NY state government communications officer. I sent an email to him reporting that we were not able to schedule an appointment through the website and in reply he said we could schedule an appointment by calling 1-833-NYS-4-VAX. We have called that number innumerable times with the same result—a recorded message saying the call cannot be completed at this time.
In other words, the vaccine roll out that was supposed to start Jan. 11 is a complete sham. Apparently determined to escalate the chaos even more, Cuomo has now asserted he is expanding eligibility of the vaccine—which no one over 75 can get–to those over 65.
Today’s (Jan. 12) New York Post complains of glitches in the city’s roll out of the vaccine, but at least the city is vaccinating people in the group on whom Cuomo has perpetrated a hoax worthy of the tailors in the Emperor’s new clothes. The applauding audience in this case, apart from Cuomo himself, is the media. (I can’t wait to hear Cuomo congratulate himself before an ecstatic media for his achievement in making the vaccine available to all, never forgetting the demands of social justice.) Cuomo is definitely due for another Emmy—all show and zero substance.
Comments are closed.
