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TCinLA's avatar

In the meantime....

I got a robocall last night at 6:30pm from VA-Greater LA that they have the vaccine, for people in Group I (me). The ONLY LOCATION FOR ALL OF LOS ANGELES is the VA hospital in West LA!

The phone line broke down after 2-3 minutes on hold each time I called before I gave up after an hour. I called again at 11pm and spoke to a person. The earliest I could get it is March 8 (for those of you who don't have ready access to a calendar, that is SEVEN WEEKS FROM NOW). I was told I could expect to be there about 90 minutes. That's on top of an hour each way on the world's worst freeway (the 405). I'm a full-time caregiver for a Parkinson's patient who is bedridden while waiting for a hospital bed in the middle of The Worst Medical Crisis In The Country to have her hip replacement repaired. 3.5-4 hours away is just not possible. So maybe in 2-3 weeks the VA location that is 15 minutes away may get the vaccine. So maybe sometime in April, I can get vaccinated.

I just received this warm little note from a good friend in Virginia, also in Group I:

"I called for the first two days once the info was made public. Busy signal (and I called every hour on the hour for 12 hours). Third day, a friend gave me a website. Two days trying it, but with no response when "sending". Fifth day, my email went through and I was placed on an "Emergency" County-wide website-based system that now spits out emails to me daily. Plus, I was allowed to sign-up for a vaccination.

Today's mail (now some 10 days in) said only 40K vaccines were available and I was beyond that initial allocation; so I might have to wait 6-8 weeks.

Meanwhile, on 18 Jan, my wife is eligible as the third group will be 65 and older. She is advised her wait might be to mid-summer.

Lovely. (Oh yes, once we are vaccinated initially, we are to "trust" that the second shot will be available and on time. Are you shitting me!!!!)"

Let's face facts: the US government as currently organized couldn't find its ass with both hands on a clear day with a 12 hour advance notice. And that is not going to change at 12:01

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H Hamill's avatar

Perhaps the worst aspect of our current hyperpolarization (aside from autocratic violence) is the polarization of the benefit of competence. We are such that not only was the Trump admin grossly incompetent in a way that’s resulted in near WWII level casualties, but that this incompetence isn’t likely have any consequences - electoral or otherwise- because it’s just another one for the partisan slop pile.

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