Not his to give

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WTF?

Those vaccine doses are not Northam’s to give. They belong to the citizens of Virginia. Absent a vote from the legislature authorizing diverting Virginia’ allocation to another state, or DC, is gross malfeasance, and Northam should be removed from office and prosecuted.

Virginians will die waiting for that shortfall to be made up.

Published by Don Tabor

I am a former Chairman of the Tidewater Libertarian Party and was the 2007 LP candidate for the 14th district VA Senate. Previously, I was the Volunteer State Director for the FairTax. I am married 50 years with two grown children and 5 grandchildren.

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36 thoughts on “Not his to give”

      2. Where did you get the idea that any of the vaccine is the property of the people of Virginia? The doses in question were paid for with federal money for the benefit ALL the people of the United States.

        This humanitarian impulse behind this decision is admirable in itself but it is also good to see a Democrat and Republican governor working together to protect as many lives as possible instead posturing to stay in the good graces of selfish ignoramuses.

        But, hey, it is very obvious where you are coming from. How dare somebody put those “urban people” ahead of you for a week or two. Never mind that you are sitting on your fat ass safe at home and the people who will get these doses are front-line health care providers who are constantly at risk. You have gone off the rails since Trump lost the election and seem to have stopped trying to hide what kind of person you truly are.

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  2. Agreed!! No matter who paid for them, they were allotted for VIRGINIA health care workers and I bet the vaccine to HC worker ratio is very similar to DCs. Especially since the news of we are getting 100k fewer for unknown reasons. They are not for him to pass around as he pleases. Jackass!!

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    2. If anyone had bothered to read the details instead of getting all upset because “urban people” are “stealing” vaccines that “belong” to Virginia they would know that a principle reason for this decision is that many thousands of doctors, nurses and hospital staff who work in DC live in Virginia. This fact was not taken into account in the original allocations but it should have been if the goal is to protect front-line people.

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      1. And DC exports most of its nursing home population to VA, easing its burden far more as fewer nursing homes means fewer staff as well as residents.

        DC has only 18 nursing homes, Chesapeake alone has more than 40.

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        1. Nursing home population is completely irrelevant at this stage of the vaccine distribution. Obviously. Your mind seems blocked because of some idee fixe that “urban people” might get the vaccine before you do. What is up with that?

          This first round of vaccine distribution is destined for those working on the healthcare front-line. Nursing home residents come later. The government bureaucrats decided to allocate the vaccine based on total population, not based on the hospital work force – even though it is the hospital work force that the first distribution is destined for. Usually you object to bureaucratic thick-headedness but not in this case. I wonder why?

          Using this total population formulation DC hospitals WERE shortchanged. DC has approximately 85,000 front-line health care workers. Approximately 63,000 of them live in MD and VA. The total allocation to DC hospitals was 6,825 doses.

          Whether you want to believe it or not this IS a problem and the Governors of VA and MD where those 63,000 people live tried to address it in good faith. You may disagree with their approach but to call it “theft” and demand criminal prosecution is absurd. And that is putting it kindly. Other words come to mind.

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          1. Nursing home STAFF are among the front line workers. Fewer nursing homes means less staff, more than enough there to offset commuter doctors and nurses working in DC.

            And even if Northam’s motives were justified, absent allocation by the legislature, those doses are not his to give away for any reason.

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          2. That is a totally specious argument. No surprise there. The distinction between working in a hospital or working a nursing home is irrelevant in counting up the total. DC has 85,000 such workers in total. 63,000 of them live in VA and MD. DC hospitals and nursing homes only got 6,825 doses.

            In your eagerness to display your hatred and contempt of our Governor, you are ignoring the fact that he clearly acted in the best interest of Virginia citizens who work as front-line healthcare providers.

            You keep saying that Northam needed the Legislature to act on this. Uh, no. That is something that you simply made up.

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  3. The big surprise to me was that this administration considered DC to be a territory when it came to stimulus last spring. And apparently that affected the allotment of vaccines.

    Territory? Like Guam or Northern Mariana Islands?

    DC has more people that Wyoming or Vermont. And, more importantly, it is a hub of massive.commuting from densely populated suburbs in two states, with some in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

    Short changing DC is very small minded thinking.

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    1. DC has not been short changed. It has received the same share based on population as the states.

      Further, there are only 18 nursing homes in all of DC. so they will get to the general population a lot sooner than Virginia will in any case. Most of DC’s nursing home population is in VA. So DC is actually depleting the VA supply even without this giveaway.

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      1. Urban is the key. Those 3/4 million are packed into a city that is majority minority. And those are part of the most vulnerable Americans, nursing homes or not.

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        1. Even if you can rationalize the theft, it is still a theft of resources that belong to the people of Virginia, who have not authorized giving them away. The legislature was not consulted.

          Good intentions do not authorize giving away what belongs to others.

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          1. Belong to VA? I think the feds paid for them. Our taxes yes, but not VA taxes. (Actually not taxes either, just printed money from more deficit spending, but that’s another story.)

            Theft? How is reallocation of a scarce resource that we did not pay for a theft? Particularly when the border between VA, MD and DC is just a line on a map, but the people are massed into a large urban/suburban complex that for some reason is ignored. The virus doesn’t care.

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          2. Again, population density was considered in making the allocations. DC had its share, and even more, as they effectively export their nursing home populations to VA.

            Even without taking VA’s share, DC general population residents were going get the vaccine before you or me.

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          3. My suggestion is to wear a mask and hold on. Apparently there is an issue with actual distribution anyway. Some states are complaining about shortages while Pfizer is saying they have freezers full of vaccine but no direction from the administration.

            “We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse, but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses.”

            Two senior Trump administration officials who spoke anonymously with the Associated Press on Thursday said the doses were being held at Pfizer’s Michigan manufacturing plant on purpose.”

            https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-waiting-on-government-to-ship-millions-of-coronavirus-shots-2020-12

            Supposedly the reason is to guarantee the 2nd dose.

            Communication SNAFU or just another inept mismanagement fiasco.

            “We have a health plan ready to go…”

            Not so much. Maybe it’s is the same. We can’t get a straight answer fro the administration about anything.

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          4. I’ve heard many different explanations, but reserving for the second dose, in the face of Pfizer’s reluctance to guarantee further deliveries makes sense. It would be a great waste to have to revaccinate all those who got the first dose if the 2nd failed to show up. If that is the true explanation, then it is a wise precaution, at least until Pfizer can guarantee its commitment.

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          5. Well, it might. Of course we are assuming that frontline medical personnel are to stupid to effectively handle vaccination protocols.

            BTW: where did you see that Pfizer won’t guarantee future deliveries that were contracted for?

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          6. No such assumption.

            If you take the 1st Pfizer dose, in 4 weeks you have to take the 2nd. And it can’t be the Moderna vaccine, you can’t switch brands.

            So, if for whatever reason,in 4 weeks, the Pfizer vaccine does not show up, you have to start over and the first dose is wasted.

            So, with the supply uncertain, reserving the 2nd dose makes sense.

            https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizer-slashed-its-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-target-after-facing-supply-chain-obstacles-11607027787

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  4. If OWS had an actual distribution plan, as we were led to believe, the need for states to assist other areas because they are being shortchanged would be a non-issue.

    Trying to say that Pfizer opted for its own distribution but the news clearly states the company is awaiting guidance from the administration.

    OWS was great at getting the vaccine developed; getting it into the arms of those in need? Meh.

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    1. Pfizer is accepting directives for where the supply goes from OWS but it is using its own supply chain.

      OWS has a plan and the military is using it. Moderna will too. But Pfizer has its own, though it dies rely to some extent on funding from OWS and from shipping priority.

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        1. Did you note that the general did not say what the miscommunication was?

          It was in the original estimate of doses to be delivered, which had been made on the assumption that the second doses would be available, which became uncertain, so he had to reserve some stock to be sure the 2nd doses would be available

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          1. So the all knowing Don Tabor declares that the miscommunication, which the General owned up to was, was actually Pfizer’s? And with no cite of that?

            If it was truly a Pfizer issue, the statement would have been the usual finger pointing we have grown to accept from this administration.

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          2. Will the infamously right wing CNN do?

            https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/16/politics/coronavirus-vaccine-pfizer-supply-issues/index.html

            The initial delivery estimates were based on further deliveries based on OWS option to purchase an additional 100 million doses this spring.

            When it became clear Pfizer was not going to be able to deliver as much as expected, it was necessary to keep some of the vaccine intended for allocation in reserve for second doses to the first group vaccinated.

            It is not a matter of fault, it is just an unanticipated development.

            OWS did not engage in finger pointing. Instead, the change was characterized as a miscommunication.

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        2. This would not be a story if the leaders of the administration had simply told the truth in response to the shortfall. It is their instinctive dishonesty and finger-pointing that made a routine and understandable error into a story.

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          1. Not sure what you mean.

            The initial estimate was made prior to Pfizer announcing it was having supply chain problems. It was a valid estimate at that time.

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          2. “Not sure what you mean.”
            “Pfizer announcing it was having supply chain problems?”

            What? They have not made any such announcement. Looks like you bought the finger-pointing lie.

            This is not about the original estimate. It is about the reaction of Trump officialdom when various states raised the issue. Instead of a straightforward explanation as now offered by this general they tried to blame the shortfall on Pfizer. That was a LIE and Pfizer immediately called them out. Then as the story got traction they hummed and hawed for several more days before letting this fellow come forward with the simple and not very damning truth.

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