By now, it’s just about common knowledge that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has pretty much failed his state when it comes to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Between his infamous nursing home scandal in which thousands of unnecessary and vulnerable lives were taken and his ruthless and draconian lockdowns, his citizens have seemed to be hit with one wall after another.
The vaccine and its recent approval were supposed to a guiding light out of those dark days and one that would give people the hope that all these failings might be behind them.
And yet, it seems Governor Cuomo has made it his life’s work to continue his tirade of power, all at the expense of the people.
While vaccines have been distributed to the state, Cuomo doesn’t seem to want to give them out. And it’s making even socialist New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his office skeptical of the governor’s plans.
De Blasio’s press secretary Bill Neidhardt recently tweeted, “The Governor’s office released a long statement as to why they won’t give cities and counties the freedom to vaccinate first responders and the elderly. A line-by-line response in bold below. But it all boils down to this: There is no excuse to slow down the vaccination effort.”
Mayor de Blasio himself has noted that the governor’s plans don’t seem to be putting the people first. Then again, they are about as clear as mud.
The mayor said on Thursday, “We were ready to go and do a huge vaccination effort at the Department of Correction and the (New York Police Department), but we were told by the state that they would not allow that. They are allowing a small percentage, several thousand NYPD medical corps members, and we’re going ahead with those vaccinations, but we really think the rules couldn’t be clearer.”
He continued, saying, “When a governor does something that is not in New York City’s interest, you gotta stand up and fight for New Yorkers. That’s what I’m doing.”
Now, while I’m sure we can all agree that de Blasio is no hero and certainly isn’t the white knight that his city needs right now, this is a rather smart move, at least for the city.
As Becker’s Hospital Review has recently noted, New York has received more than 1.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine so far. And yet, Cuomo has only allowed for about 31 percent or so to be distributed.
Of course, he has made sure that he, his staff, and his family have received it. But, as de Blasio and Neidhardt noted, those on the frontlines (the police, EMTs, and other healthcare workers) haven’t been able to – at least not in the numbers needed.
Of course, the liberal governor says that it’s not his fault. As usual, he is blaming the federal government, claiming that his state hasn’t been given nearly enough vaccines for him to do his job.
He said in a news briefing on Wednesday, “We haven’t received even half of the number of dosages yet. We’re still receiving about 300,000 dosages per week from the federal government, and that means we need about 2.1 million dosages just to get through the health care workers and (nursing home residents),” according to Fox News.
Now, part of this might be genuine. I’m sure the state, just like many others, is a long way off in getting vaccines for everyone that needs/wants one.
However, that doesn’t explain why Cuomo won’t give out what he does have on hand. I mean, if you know there is a shortage and understand that the people need the vaccine, wouldn’t you be doing everything in your power to ensure that those on the frontlines and in their most vulnerable state get them as soon as possible?
He knows that more is coming and even stated as much. So why isn’t he allowing his citizens to get the care and treatment they need? No matter how few the state currently has, the vaccines do no one any good just sitting in a room unused.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s deliberately trying to keep his state sick, poor, and helpless. At least that way, he has some kind of control over them.
Oh’ wait, I don’t know any better. After all, this is the same man who basically ordered the slow and painful death by COVID of nearly 7,000 of NY’s elderly and kept businesses shut down with no income source for months now.