THREAD: "I generally abstain posting about my own personal experiences or those of my family, but.."

[demmiblue]

Link to tweet

THREAD: I generally abstain posting about my own personal experiences or those of my family, but what my parents are seeing and experiencing in SW Florida with the vaccine rollout is a disgrace.

In Lee County Florida, where vaccines started as first come/first served for seniors Monday, hundreds of people in 70s & 80s slept in lawn chairs, lined up outside vaccine sites.

One family friend, in her 80s went to a Lee County site at 4:30am, and spent hours waiting for a vaccine, many there were not wearing masks, she says, and had been waiting overnight. She called it a “superspreader” event with so many crammed together.

After hours of waiting, she left because she felt her risk of getting COVID there was higher than yet chances of getting vaccinated.

Seniors are being told to show up at Lee County vaccination sites with warm clothes, blankets, water and their medications given how long the wait times will be.

Locals searching for reliable vaccine rollout info online, thru trusted sources like local health department sites, are struggling to find anything.
Here are screenshots for Lee/Collier County.
Here are links:
http://lee.floridahealth.gov
http://collier.floridahealth.gov

You’d think for an event that’s been in the works for months, every local health department would have a giant, clearly labeled, front page message on their website telling people who’s eligible, where to go, and when. Especially when first recipients are in 70s & 80s. #vaccine

[Irish_Dem]

1. They really do want to kill us. nt

[area51]

3. Agreed,

but I would add that's also obvious because we don't have healthcare as a basic right.

[PatSeg]

29. That was what I was thinking

That is insane to have elderly, vulnerable people waiting outside for hours surrounded by other people, many without masks. Sounds like something straight out of Dickens, a way to "reduce the surplus population".

[Irish_Dem]

33. Future generations are just going to shake their heads at us for allowing this kind of abuse. nt

[PatSeg]

34. Yes, history will not be kind

Meanwhile, they could be killing off some of their most reliable voters. It is not just unspeakably cruel, it is horrible politics. I wonder how many of those poor people voted for this governor and his incompetence. Republicans really can't do much of anything except run for office. Sure don't know what to do once they win.

[Irish_Dem]

37. McConnell makes sure voters are not needed. GOP only wants power and money, no governance.

So killing off segments of the population is fine with them. The US Treasury belongs to the GOP leadership.
Not the people.

[RobinA]

39. I Doubt It

Future generations will see this as the norm. The Berlin airlift/men on the moon days are over. We've become less educated and undisciplined.

[Irish_Dem]

41. Yes, I agree this is also an option. America's golden era is gone forever. nt

[barbtries]

35. yeah they do.

i think that knowledge has helped my resolve to continue living like this and not do things i want to do so much, like go home to CA and see my son and his family.

Never made it all this year. if trump gets me and i die from this virus that will be a bitter irony. And i know that it's happening to others who do everything right and still get infected. it's a vicious virus.

[Irish_Dem]

38. Same here. Determined not to let Trump kill me. Hunkering down for the long haul if need be.

Right, despite taking all precautions, people are still dying.
Trump is determined to get us.

[Kid Berwyn]

16. One guy who said he "needs a tan" got his.

Link to tweet

[Hav]

4. Richest country in the world btw

Besides a better way of organizing things, I just hope that everyone who gets vaccinated also gets the necessary information like the importance of needing the second shot and that safety measures like mask-wearing are still recommended even after getting the vaccine.

[dsc]

9. actually we are the richest large country

not richest overall. We are also behind Norway, Ireland, and Switzerland which aren't microstates.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

5. Republican leadership can call it herd immunity but it looks more like genocide by design to me. nt

Call the old people together to tell them they're getting something that will save their lives. Leave them in the cold for hours upon hours with no social distancing or masks required. Make them wait long enough that many of them give up and go home after standing in the cold for so long.
Limit the number of vaccines available and don't tell them where to find them.
Genocide, negligent homicide...what?

[Irish_Dem]

6. Older people are seen as useless eaters because they no longer work to make the elite wealthy.

I guess the oligarchs figure if Covid doesn't kill them, they can kill them by making them line up for hours
in the vaccine line.

[barbtries]

43. i'm partial to

depraved indifference murder.

[babylonsister]

7. Curious to know if bathrooms were accessible.

If not, why not?

[snowybirdie]

18. No

The news specifically said that. Cruel and awful treatment of seniors.

[niyad]

24. No porta-potties?? Nothing? JFC! Are there any statutes under which these murderers could be charged

[NoMoreRepugs]

8. All incompetent governance isn't RePutinican party governance.

All RePutinican Party governance is INCOMPETENT. Remember, we have Gov DeInsane.

[flying_wahini]

10. The KGOP Never does Anything, do they?

They don’t know how to govern or organize ANYthing.

[barbtries]

44. this is the staff you get

when the only criteria is loyalty to a party. competence? meh

[Phoenix61]

11. DeSatan strikes again. Can't imagine a bigger

cluster. The Girl Scouts, who know how to move millions of boxes of cookies, would have done a better job.

[Fritz Walter]

47. We need someone like Craig Fugate in the Governor's Mansion

Formerly Alachua County’s emergency management director, he served as Florida’s EM director, mobilizing and leading local and state personnel and resources during some very destructive storms. President Obama recognized his leadership skills and experience by making him FEMA administrator. During his term there, FEMA made public — with tongue-in-cheek — their “Waffle House Index,” giving mutual-aid personnel a familiar and easy guide to determine community damage: if the Waffle House is closed, it’s very serious.

We desperately need someone in the big chair in Tallahassee who puts residents’ health and safety above the ego of a narcissist hundreds of miles away.

Maybe Ron DeathSentence can get a job as a caddy at a Drumpf golf course...

[Roland99]

12. The BIGGEST issue with the vaccinations in FL???

The fact that MANY of these people will struggle to obtain the SECOND dose at the PROPER time

[The Animator]

13. Who could have imagined

that Florida would handle something so important so badly...
...
oh wait

[rzemanfl]

23. +1 n/t.

[Hortensis]

14. I think most of those people are likely very foolish.

Perhaps some wish to return to some other country that won't admit them without proof that they've been vaccinated? (Is there one yet?)

Or someone has COPD and 4 teen dependents, all working and playing, and has been so worried for months that sitting out in the cold to get it first thing is, yes, probably foolish but nevertheless just worth it to her?

Most are not going to have good reasons for not having the sense to continue sheltering at home for a week or two while this gets better organized. Probably more than a little anxiety and paranoia at work, and of course ignorance.

Btw, for most in at least the first groups, "better organization" is going to mean making appointments to be vaccinated on line -- most probably with their county health departments, arriving at that time, being vaccinated without exposure to crowds, and coming back for the second appointment and second shot in a month.

[RobinA]

40. Gotta Agree

What are those people doing there like that? Everybody needs to act with a little sense in this situation. That said, this whole COVID experience has been an exercise in bad leadership.

[Hortensis]

45. Bad Republican leadership :) , but very situational. The health department

in the county close by across the river is already making appointments on line for county residents, though the vaccine hasn't arrived yet. Residents know it'll be the Moderna, though, and that when it's available they'll be contacted with their appointment times.

The county we're actually in has nothing up and offers zero information, seeming DeSantis-level negligence and contempt for duty to inform citizens. On line anyway; I haven't tried calling.

Have to call our doctor in GA after the holidays to make a plan. DH had no known allergies before he came extremely close to dying from anaphylaxis.

[Traildogbob]

15. Exactly why

Congress and senate should NOT have gotten a single dose before frontlines and seniors got it first. If they had to wait, maybe they would have expediatrd rollout.
People like Rubio, Gym Jordan, ANY trump, Goobert, Cruz and everyone that would not mask and called it a hoax, them getting shots is ridiculous. The ones calling for mass deaths should not get vaccines, the ones saying seniors should man up and die for the economy should no get a shot.
And does “anyone” here think their wives and family did not also get shots, you know to protect the leaders because our government would crash without them. Seriously......what do they do? Besides taking our taxes for salaries. A government without these clowns would thrive like an earth without humans.

[LuvNewcastle]

17. Would it kill them to.organize things just a little?

How about they do A-D on Monday, E-H on Tuesday, etc. Or they could do it by age group, say people in their 90s on Monday, 85-90 on Tuesday, etc. They would, of course, need to do it somewhere with wheelchair accessible bathrooms and offer chairs for for people who need them while they wait. That's just common sense shit. Maybe they could do it at a stadium that isn't being used and have a couple of nurses available too. If I can figure this out, they, with their almighty powers should be able to.

[HUAJIAO]

19. "You'd think for an event that's been in the works for months..............."

REPUBLICANS

[AllyCat]

20. All this time we could have been training out of work folks to give the vaccines

There was no plan. They wanted to spend no money on infrastructure, distribution, training or personnel because they cannot lead. Idiots are at the helm with the keys, the nuclear codes, and a pHd in grifting.

I had some jerk in Twitter acusing the hospitals of the slow roll out. Excuse me: WE ARE TREATING A BUNCH OF SICK PEOPLE RIGHT NOW.

[snowybirdie]

21. Lee Country is doing it this way.

Neighbouring Collier has no announced plans. And this week, Gov. DieDantis said Canadians are welcome to get in line too. We Floridians will never be able to get rid of this thing! Total statewide f...kup!

[people]

22. I didn't think I could be shocked by anything . . .

But I was so wrong. That is beyond unconscionable. They can't make appointments and tell people to wear masks? It's like we live in the worst place. Florida is such a beautiful state -- too bad it's run by morons.

[lostnfound]

27. We had GREAT governors in the 70s, 80s, and 90s

Reuben Askew, Bob Graham, Lawton Chiles each had 8 year terms — that’s 24 years out of 30.

Even Martinez although Republican wasn’t a total disaster like DeSantis or Scott.

[northoftheborder]

25. This is the Republican Way of doing things.

No organization anywhere - not at the federal or state level. My state I fear may be as bad.

[patphil]

26. The vaccinations should be done using a reservation system to prevent long waits.

First come, first serve is idiotic. These are very old people, many with serious heath problems. Having them stand in long lines is pretty cruel.
But then, Florida's governor is Ron DeSantis, and he can always be counted on to oversee a general fuck up of anything that is going to help people in need.
He totally screwed up the unemployment insurance applications when things got shut down early in the pandemic. This is just one more instance of his willful incompetence.
I hope the voters remember this when he is up for re-election in 2022, but Republicans are known for voting against their interests, so I am not all that hopeful he will be defeated.

[cannabis_flower]

28. And you would think ..

It would be a first come-first serve by signing up online for a time to come and get your vaccine event. Or that they would have a line that was supervised with six feet apart markers.

[iluvtennis]

30. Shameful. nt

[SheltieLover]

31. New way to kill Americans?

How much is the bounty to dump from putin?

[Mosby]

32. Israel has vaccinated more than 7% of it's population in 9 days.

Every citizen is already registered with the HMOs and when checking in online are given spots at nearby locations that are open 24/7.

[BobTheSubgenius]

36. Here in BC, everything about the process seems pretty orderly.

The main problem seems to be getting the damned vaccine. I'm 68, have a tissue and a metallic heart valve, part of the heart muscle was excised and stitched back together. Additionally, either the infection that created the need for all this, or the surgery to correct it, or both, have led to a block that required a pacemaker.

Unless I'm on some list I don't know about, my best case is in the mid-to-late spring for the vaccine. Perhaps this has been planned well enough and this is quite a reasonable outcome, but just doesn't look like it.

[matt819]

46. Just got off the phone with my 91-year-old mother living in Florida

Lives on her own, still sharp, healthy, only goes out for walks around her apartment complex and to the grocery store (where she wears a mask).

She's going to call her GP next week to find out about getting the shot. She fully, and reasonably, expects that she will get the shot from her GP, who she has been seeing for probably more than 20 years. If a shot is needed, the GP administers it.

She is not in a position to go our somewhere and sit all bundled up in winter clothes in a beach chair. Also, she wouldn't be particularly inclined to do that in any case.

This is Florida, for fuck's sake. Old people, and lots of them, and not all of them are in nursing homes. This should be easy, and yet these idiots are creating superspreader events for old people to get the vaccine. As I said, my mother is sharp, but she's also frail. She is not going to get in a line in a place she's not familiar with, with people she doesn't know, to get a vaccine she's not crazy about getting in the first place. On what planet does this make sense?

I followed a variety of links on the florida health site. It's like the goal is to make it as difficult as possible for old people to get the vaccine.