This week, Texas got about two million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Despite the pause in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, local health departments have not paused efforts to improve distribution.
I have also not paused writing blogs. That’s my pledge to you, the dozens of people who read this blog every week.
A couple weeks ago, before the rigmarole about Johnson & Johnson, I interviewed the head of one of the homeless shelters in Dallas. He said they were looking forward to a one-dose vaccine because people who are homeless might not come back for a second shot. They might not even post pictures of their vaccine card on Instagram!
I usually stumble around town with a collection of black cloth masks.
It’s possible I also talk with my hands. But when I went to the Bridge, I had forgotten my mask. I keep a bandanna in the truck as a failsafe, but the president of the shelter pulled a bag out of his desk with his card and a mask in it.
“Shouldn’t you be saving these masks for the homeless?” I asked. “I don’t really need it. I just forgot mine.”
“What we do here,” he really did reply. “Is help people in need. Sometimes, we all need help. Today, you need some help.”
The other day, UNT Health Science Center opened a clinic in Ridgmar Mall. They had previously set up in Saginaw and the Stop Six neighborhood of Fort Worth to reach parts of Tarrant County with a lower vaccination rate.
I walked into the mall with photographers from a couple of the TV stations.
“Why do you think they picked Ridgmar Mall?” we discussed among ourselves.
On the one hand, it’s a well known landmark. On the other, they had plenty of room to spread out.
UNT Health Science Center reported the clinic would be “located in the space that was previously occupied by H&M.” I suspect again they had their pick of spaces that were previously occupied by things.
“Come down to the thing at the mall that’s open!” they might include in an ad to get people to get vaccinated.
Dallas County, meanwhile, got a chance to print up a new banner today.
They started out with the ability to vaccinate just 500 people a day. Now, they can do 12,000 per day, so they got from 250,000 people vaccinated to 400,000 in about three weeks. So my question is, “Why so somber?”
In the first picture, everyone’s giving a thumbs up. You really feel the emotion, too. Behind the masks, they are blissed out. Today, they’ve got their hands folded and seem to be tolerating the picture. Just tolerating. In their defense, it was sunnier and warmer when they hit 250,000.
But maybe one of the reasons they look so somber is because there’s no line.
Remember, back in the day, when we’d sign up with several counties and drive miles and miles to try to get the vaccine?
Maybe the reason they look somber is because we’ve gone from signing up in huge numbers to believing conspiracy theories and videos posted by random people who happen to be wearing lab coats.
Frankly, it seems kind of egotistical to think Bill Gates cares enough to control your mind.
Also, as the Dallas County judge explained, there are a lot of idiots on Twitter.
Among the conspiracy theories is the idea the vaccine will render you infertile. Listen, a whole society is dedicated just to fertility, and they’re saying that’s not true. If there’s an expert in this field, I’d have to believe he or she would be working for this outfit.
Plus, I feel like telling men in their 20s they would not be able to get a woman pregnant would drive up the vaccination rate among young men.
Jenkins is urging people to watch the news. While the editorial board here at 1 Scaianalysis Esplanade have pointed out repeatedly that we are not news, we do see the value of debunking crazy rumors because, sometimes, we all need some help.
