On Feb. 16, Buncombe County commissioners decided that political considerations were more important than science-based plans for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Rather than completing the vaccination of the most vulnerable population, the more than 40,000 seniors still on the COVID-19 vaccination waitlist, the commissioners decided to divert about 50% of the supply to their supporters under pressure from the teachers union.
As 90% of all COVID-19 deaths occur in the senior population, they have effectively sentenced some seniors to death.
The mountain-area COVID vaccine supply has been shorted by the state, as it did not factor in the older population in this area as part of their plan. The seniors in Buncombe County were already in danger. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners has decided that sacrificing even more seniors is worth the political gain. Shame on them.
Remember this the next time they come up for election. We need all seniors still alive at that time and anyone who cares for a senior to vote them all out. They hope we will forget. I, for one, assuming I survive, will not.
— Gary Incorvia
Weaverville
Editor’s note: Xpress contacted the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners with the letter writer’s points and received the following response from Commissioner Amanda Edwards: “The decision to allocate 975 vaccines weekly to school personnel was a compromise to balance our over-65 population’s needs with the educational needs of our schoolchildren. Ensuring a safe return to the classroom is vital to the academic success of our children. Summer loss is a continual concern and challenge — in just a couple of months, children can lose up to 50% of the gains they made in the school year. Now our children face yearlong loss, and there’s no question they are falling further and further behind the longer schools operate remotely.
“Our children whose families cannot hire private tutors are impacted more significantly by this learning loss. To add further stresses on our community, school closures disproportionately affect working parents and especially working mothers who have quit jobs and college to be home with kids learning remotely. Vaccinating school personnel is an important step to getting parents back to work and in school to complete their degrees and getting our local economy back on track, while ensuring we stop the spread of the virus that has been unrelenting in its attack on our elderly population.”
This rather selfish letter writer is forgetting who will soon be paying into the already overburdened social security system that seniors depend upon. See, it does all come back to you in the end!
Oh good grief. You stand on the shoulders of everyone who worked and came before you, and paved the way for you to be a worker bee’. And THEIR payment into the system is hardly selfish.
I lost an older neighbor, who was not tech savvy and didn’t get on the wait-list right away, to Covid. So much is wrong about everything regarding getting vaccinated.
Selfish is the supposed “teachers” who got a bonus from the governor for staying home and voting democrat, while pushing the demunist agenda on the children.
well, this is unfortunate. The commissioners though are not entirely at fault here….. the lack of an adequate vaccination supply is the obvious root of the problem here…. and whose fault is that? Probably no ones… it’s just the reality of trying to immunize a country with over 300 million people in it (…not to mention a world with close to 8 billion people, whew). In the meantime, the more transmissible -and very possibly more virulent- variants are on the march…. check out what is happening in Brazil right now. Bad… real bad… and one of the reasons the elderly are starting to be less prioritized in the face of ongoing finite supply of vaccination inventory for the foreseeable future. Note: this does bring up an important point about the vaccinating of teachers though. The fact that schools are being opened back up for in-person teaching is insane…. where do they think the newer/ scarier variants strains are going to head straight for first? Look what is happening -in real time here- on our college campuses. It’s a recipe for a disastrous fourth wave …or whatever number wave we’re on schedule for :/
Rule number one 1st grade no cutting in line.
Rule number two follow the science, senior citizen require the vaccine. CDC says vaccines aren’t necessary for schools to
re-engage safely.
Ok, so remind me again what is the purpose of being vaccinated against COVID-19? “THINK” about these statements!!
“If I get vaccinated”:
1.- Can I stop wearing the mask? Government: No
2.- Can they reopen restaurants, pubs, bars etc. and everyone work normally? Government: No
3.- Will I be resistant to COVID-19? Government Response – Maybe, but we don’t know exactly, it probably won’t stop you getting it
4.- At least I won’t be contagious to others anymore? Government Response – No, it doesn’t stop transmission.
5.- If I am vaccinated, can I stop social distancing? Government: No
6.- If I am vaccinated, can I stop disinfecting my hands? Government: No
7.- If I vaccinate myself and my grandparents, can we hug each other? Government: No
8.- Will cinemas, theatres and stadiums operate as per normal thanks to vaccines? Government: No
9.- What is the benefit of the vaccine? Government Response – Hoping the virus won’t kill you.
10.- Are you sure it won’t kill me? Government: No
11.- If statistically the virus won’t kill me anyway (99.7% survival rate) … Why would I get vaccinated?” Government Response – To protect others.
12.- So if I get vaccinated, I can protect 100% of people I come in contact with? Government: No
13.- Can you guarantee that I won’t experience adverse effects from taking the vaccine or die from the vaccine itself? Government Response – No
14. – Since you’re encouraging every American to get vaccinated then, when people experience severe adverse reactions, long term effects (still unknown) or die from the vaccine will they or their families be compensated? Government response: NO – the government and vaccine manufactures have 100% zero liability in experimental stages.
15. -How long does the vaccine last? Government response- we aren’t sure.
So, to summarize, the Covid 19 vaccine… Does not give immunity. Does not eliminate the virus. Does not prevent death. Does not guarantee you won’t get it. Does not stop you passing it on. Does not eliminate the need for travel bans. Does not eliminate the need for business closures. Does not eliminate the need for lock-downs. Does not eliminate the need for masking.
A public service message from those paying attention.
Personally, I can’t wait to get vaccinated. And I’ll keep wearing the mask, etc. until we turn the corner on this. Hey, even Trump got vaccinated (in secret) in January. Stop spreading disinfo, you anonymous propagandist.
https://www.axios.com/trump-vaccinated-coronavirus-bd88b0fa-6a19-483d-8fd4-d949f23f25f9.html
I am among the fortunate seniors who are vaccinated (no major side effects), and I am delighted. I have been very careful up to now, and will continue to mask up, wash hands, and not unnecessarily risk my fellow citizens by being careless. This also means that I will not be put at risk by those who refuse to follow common-sense guidelines. As for the lack of absolute answers to your questions, welcome to the world of science. Unlike politicians, we don’t provide absolute answers without adequate evidence to back it up.
Talking point #1: “OPEN THE SCHOOLS KIDS NEED TO BE IN SCHOOL!
Talking point #2: “HOW DARE TEACHERS GET THE VACCINE BEFORE ME!”
And oh yeah — NC prohibits collective bargaining by public employees. The is no “teachers union.”
The nonresponse response by the commission is a red herring. There is less covid in schools than outside of school. The commissioner provides no evidence to the contrary. Seniors are more likely to get covid, more like to get a severe case, more likely to be hospitalized and more like to die that younger folks. That’s why they were prioritized. Kowtowing to teachers by our lame commissioners is a joke.
RESIST the vaccine for your longer term health !!!
Fred, buddy! Even Dolly Parton wants you to get the vaccine!
“Don’t be such a chicken squat. Get out there and get your shot”
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/dolly-parton-don-t-be-such-a-chicken-squat-get-out-there-and-get-your-shot-1.4499950
I could not believe how Roy Cooper exploited her using her like this! shame on him!
“Exploited her”? WTF, Fred Caudle? She’s not been exploited – she donated a million dollars of her own money to develop the vaccine, and now she’s pushing people to get it of her own volition.
The distribution process is just a mess. You can’t get anyone to answer phones to make an appointment. The Walgreen’s vaccine scheduling web site is apparently broken half the time. Older people aren’t tech savvy enough to track down a vaccine online and schedule it. It’s strange to have Group 1 open and a small portion of individuals get vaccinated before other groups opened. Now many groups are open and still people from group one are on a waiting list at about 50,000. How do people in the latter groups get in before people in the earlier groups if there are waiting lists? I just don’t get how the distribution process is working. It seems the vaccine availability is growing rapidly so maybe the problem will self-correct. It just seems like an disorganized mess. Can’t we do better than that?