Vaccine distribution frustration

By Peter Lunde

Preston, MN

This has been a bad week with the repercussions following the demonstrations in Washington and the increasingly worrisome vaccine distribution delays in some states, with Minnesota being among the problem states. I have friends in Texas, 65 to 78 years old who already have appointments to get the vaccine starting next week with the last to get their first shots by mid-February. I am 75 years old. From the state web pages and from state administration statements, I should not expect the vaccine before late spring or early summer.

According to health.state.mn.us, updated January 8, the guidelines for vaccine administration are:

• Maximize Benefits and Minimize Harm

• Promote Justice

• Mitigate Health Inequities

• Promote Transparency What is not a priority is Get the Vaccine Administered as Fast as Possible to Control the Disease and Minimize Deaths

In reading Senator Klobuchar’s article in the Journal and regularly checking the Minnesota State web pages, it is obvious the people in charge are not interested in or do not know how to solve real time problems. Having excuses and listing problems IS NOT as good as solving the problem.

About 75% of the vaccine on hand in Minnesota has not been administered – after nearly four weeks. We were told in early December that the state was partnering with Mayo Clinic which could give 10,000 vaccinations a day to the public – hasn’t happened.

The excuses:

It’s complicated.

We don’t have enough trucks.

We don’t have enough freezers and they cost $10,000 each (cost of one day for one person in intensive care).

We contracted with CVS and Walgreens and they have to train their people.

We have to get comments from the public and hold hearings to establish the (political) priority for group 1b. (Promote Justice and Mitigate Health Inequities)

It was the holidays.

Half the people do not want to get the vaccine because of online (false) information about the vaccine during the election.

Oh My God! Do they not hear what they are saying? There are many obvious solutions to the “problems.” This is a life or death issue; it should not be another political game.

The solution:

This is how urgent problems get solved in the real world.

Form a non-political crisis management team that is separate, except for needed support, from the normal administration quagmire and politics. The people must be able to think out of the box. This is basically what was done by the federal government last year. Like Trump or not, this is how crises are handled by the military and by the private sector. It works.

The team would have a top leader who would have total authority and responsibility. He would have a group of six to ten sub-group leaders reporting to him (or her) who would each have authority and responsibility for their area. Each sub-group would have a group of experts. In these sub-groups; suggestions, comments and criticisms would be welcomed and expected. The sub-group leaders would listen to his experts’ input and select one or two options to proceed with. The groups would meet once or twice daily – seven days a week.

There will be mis-steps which would be corrected as they come up, real time. This is far better than talking about problems and doing little.

The people on the teams have to want to be on the team only because they want to help, without giving a minute’s thought to politics or their personal goals. It may be hard to believe, but there are people like that out there.

Some of this may be underway, but based on the statements from the politicians and from the state, there is no sense of urgency. The governor’s office said on January 12 that they will not give in to the new CDC’s guidelines to speed up vaccinations. These recommendations are the same as those of the incoming Biden administration.