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Tips and tricks to vaccine signups from a college student

by TBR Staff - February 24, 2021

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vaccine-5897391_1920 — Photo from Pixabay

By Leah Chiappino

The COVID-19 rollout in New York state has brought hope to residents, after nearly a year of shuttered businesses, isolation and general fear for their own health and safety. For many, hope turned to frustration as they attempted to navigate the New York State signup website, phone hotline or even a simple Google search to find other options.

Even as a 20-year-old digital native, attempting to navigate the world of vaccine signups was difficult to put it mildly, and infuriating to put it bluntly. Through my part-time work at a law firm, I began trying to book appointments for elderly clients at the end of January. I was able to secure a few appointments by luck, as I happened to look on the state-run site at exactly the right time to see open appointments. Of course, the website crashed, but I notified clients, friends and family to call the hotline.

From there, securing an appointment seemed to become more difficult, even as more locations opened up. Getting an appointment seems to be a combination of pure luck, persistence and patience.

Distributing a vaccine to combat a pandemic is an extraordinary feat. It is unrealistic to expect the process not to have any roadblocks. However, the system seems to lack basic necessities to account for the inconveniences encountered by those trying to make vaccine appointments.

The average New Yorker does not have 12 hours to sit at a computer in a virtual wait line, only for the computer to crash when they finally get an opening.

My 89-year-old grandfather cannot figure out how to merge a call to give the operator consent for me to make an appointment. Someone in their 90s cannot figure out what to do when the website crashes. There’s also no real database that shows every single possible vaccination site, pharmacy or other center that allows people to get an appointment — at least in Suffolk County.

Seniors, essential workers and vulnerable populations deserve better.

Through my failures and successes in trying to get the vaccine appointments, I have acquired a few tips and tricks, as well as answers to commonly asked questions.

1. Community is a great resource for finding out the latest information, unavailability, hearing tips from other people who made an appointment successfully and guiding others through the process. The Long Island COVID-19 Vaccination Information Facebook group posts multiple times a day and offers direct links to state-run distribution sites, as well as consistent posts and guidance as to when appointments open.

2. Pharmacies will only vaccinate, pursuant to New York State executive order, those 65 and older and exclude essential workers and those with comorbidities. Appointments can be made online at Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS and Stop & Shop. In my own experience, appointments tend to open up on these sites after midnight.

3. Another helpful tool is the TurboVax website — an A1 site that automatically posts appointments on social media when appointments are available. Most of the appointments are New York City vaccine sites, which usually require patients to live or work there in order to receive the vaccine, and have stipulations as to what category of eligibility they can vaccinate (essential workers, seniors or those with comorbidities). However, Long Islanders can make appointments at state-run vaccination sites, which also appear on TurboVax.

4. Those with comorbidities need to bring a doctor’s letter, medical documentation showing their comorbidity or a signed certification to their appointment. Those with comorbidities can be vaccinated at state-run mass vaccination sites, as well as through local department of health sites. Local departments of health can determine how the supply is distributed to area sites.

5. It is essential to be persistent. Sometimes, you call the hotline and the operator will not look more than 50 miles from your home zip code, or will say that appointments are unavailable when they are showing on the website. There is some lag between the site and the hotline, so always be sure to double check. In general, however, hotline workers are kind, informed and helpful. Any frustrating guidance, they tell you, comes from the state and general lack of supply. They are doing their best, so be kind. It usually helps.

Leah Chiappino is a 20-year-old contributing writer with TBR News Media. Currently a junior at Hofstra University, she is a political science and journalism double major. She is a resident of Smithtown.

Smithtown Bulls outrun Huntington Blue Devils

by Bill Landon - February 24, 2021

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Smithtown West needed the win in order to stay ahead of crosstown rival Smithtown East for sole possession of second place in the League 3 standings, and the Bulls did that handily at home downing the Huntington Blue Devils, 55-38, on senior night Feb. 23.

The Bulls have one game remaining against Copiague Feb. 25 and will need that win to make the post season which begins Feb 27.

Patrick Burke, the 6’6” sophomore, sat atop the scoring chart for the Bulls with six field goals for 12 points. Tyler Anderson, a junior, banked nine; senior Jack Driscoll netted nine; and Luke Jimenez, a senior, added eight. With the win, Smithtown West improves to 4-1.

Huntington junior Max Rentsch led the Blue Devils in scoring with 14 points followed by teammate Chad Rowe who banked six. Adrian Brooks and Kevin Drake netted five points apiece. The loss drops the Blue Devils to 1-4 with two games remaining.

D. None of the Above: Pondering the ‘found time’ created by the 46th

by Daniel Dunaief - February 24, 2021

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By Daniel Dunaief

I have a surprising amount of “found time” these days.

I still have numerous responsibilities and deadlines, but the time between activities, when I’m walking and talking with my wife, when I’m driving to the supermarket or when I’m preparing dinner, my mind is free of the pattern it had developed over the course of the last four years.

No, I wasn’t training for the Olympics and no, I wasn’t preparing a machine to land on the Red Planet. I was, like so many other people, living my life and reading the headlines.

More often than not, the 45th president of the United States consumed the news cycle. Periodically, I wrote about him, but, for the most part, despite reading and reacting to the things other people wrote, I recognized that few ideas or thoughts I had were original or even worth printing.

Yet, I found myself reading and reacting with friends and family, pondering whether he was setting new presidential precedents.

While my body hasn’t gone on any distant vacations, except for a relaxing ski weekend, my mind suddenly has more time. Indeed, even when there are headlines about Supreme Court decisions related to the former president, I glance at a few sentences and move on to other things.

So what am I doing with all this found time? In no particular order, here are a few ways I have reengaged my mind:

■ I’m reading more books. I have had Walter Isaacson’s biography of Ben Franklin next to my bed for a while. I’m now parsing through it more closely, enjoying the reality of an iconic American, learning about his love for travel and his well-known sense of self worth.

■ I’m thinking about Mars. At first, of course, I couldn’t help wondering how Marvin the Martian from the Bugs Bunny era might react to the Perseverance rover landing next to his home. On a more serious note, I enjoyed the absolutely giddy scene at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where scientists and engineers have been working tirelessly for years for this moment and where they saw and heard sights and sounds from Mars that bring us all closer to the planet’s surface.

■ I’m noticing the lighting around our neighborhood. As we approach spring, the colors of the light have changed, turning ordinary homes into glowing domiciles. If I were selling some of the houses around me, I would take pictures of them during the sunrise and sunset, showing prospective buyers these residences when they are glowing.

■ I’m becoming preoccupied with sports again. I am following the Brooklyn Nets more closely and, more directly, am excited for the days and weeks ahead when my son might play baseball. In his last year of high school, he has an opportunity to play for his school and himself, if the school and the league are able to get through an entire season during the pandemic.

■ I’m marveling, in a distant and impersonal way, at the turnabout in press coverage. CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post have toned down their Washington criticism, while the New York Post and Fox News seem intent to point out all the flaws and dangers of the new administration. The teeter-totter has tilted in the other direction now, with the New York Post attacking White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki with some of the same concerns that the more liberal papers attacked the previous press secretary.

■ Lastly, I’m listening to everything around me better. The children playing down the street and the returning birds calling to each other in the trees have captured my attention.

Between You and Me: My carpet has lots of leafy greens and low cholesterol

by Leah Dunaief - February 24, 2021

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

It seemed like a good idea in the moment. The clock on the oven read 7:00 p.m., and I wanted to watch the PBS News Hour on Channel 13. But I was also hungry. So I reached into the fridge and took out one of the smoothies I make in advance to last me the week.

This one was in an open top container that I had covered with plastic wrap. I threw the cover in the trash, plunked a straw into the purple drink, picked up a coaster to rest the drink on and headed up the stairs to the television in the bedroom.

After switching on the overhead light, I picked up the remote, put the coaster on the bedside table, settled myself into the adjacent overstuffed chair and reaching over, put the container of smoothie on the coaster. To my horror, the coaster skittered out from under the container, which tipped over and splattered its contents across the carpet, spotting the nearby bedspread, the wall behind me, even the lower slats of the blinds across the room. In an instant, 32 ounces of smoothie lay spread out before me.

“Holy cow!” I yelled. (That’s not what I really yelled, but this is a family newspaper.) The speed with which I had just ruined the bedroom stunned me. I jumped up, grabbed some towels from the nearby bathroom, and on my hands and knees, breathlessly tried to sop up what had not already soaked into the blue carpet.

Finally, I sat back to stop my panting and to survey the damage. It was awesome what some liquid in a cup could do to an otherwise orderly room. It occurred to me then that this wasn’t just ordinary liquid. This was probably the most nutritious contents this carpet could have sucked up. Let me tell you what I put into my smoothie.

First I pour into the Vitamix a cup of soy milk, then one cup of pomegranate juice. Next I add one banana, then 2 tablespoons of unsweetened chocolate and 2 tablespoons of flax seed meal (not the seeds.) Then comes the good part: 8 ounces of baby bok choy, 8 ounces of baby kale, 2 cups of frozen cherries and 2 1/2 cups of frozen blueberries. The mixer makes all of this into a drink, and I will have one healthy carpet, albeit devilishly stained.

I am able to joke about this because, incredibly, the story has a happy ending. Just as I was sitting in the middle of the floor, about to cry, the phone rang. It was a dear friend, and when I told him what had just happened, he offered to come right over with his shop vacuum and some kind of magic reagent that he loaded into it. He was truly an angel, passing the suction wand over the spill again and again until the original color of the carpet reappeared. He then put some kind of absorbent powder over the main body of the spill, to be left there for a couple of days and then vacuumed up. When I did so, the damaged area was restored to its former pristine condition.

When I look at the carpet now, I think how wonderful it would be if we could just vacuum up whatever unfortunate circumstances had ever befallen us. Imagine having a giant vacuum that could suck away the misery of COVID-19, returning our lives to what we had always thought of as being normal. It could also remove any hurts or regrets, any shadows of past events or unhappy relationships that we might be carrying throughout our lives.

Yes, it is true that we learn from our mistakes and our experiences. But we don’t need all of them to become better people. We certainly didn’t need a novel coronavirus, even if it did teach us that we could order groceries delivered and work from home. We could borrow from Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, and using our magic vacuum say, “Out, damned spot!”

BNL to host virtual talk, Q&A on COVID-19 research Feb. 25

by Press Release - February 24, 2021

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COVID-19 needs no introduction. Scientists fighting it do.

John Hill leads the COVID-19 Science and Technology Working Group at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory. He also represents Brookhaven in a DOE consortium—the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory—which includes all 17 national laboratories working to address key challenges in responding to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 working group Hill leads at Brookhaven comprises experts in biology, nanoscience, computation, and other areas of science. They and their collaborators are leveraging world-class capabilities to study the structure of viral components, narrow the search for drugs, track research efforts, model the disease’s spread, and more.

Hill will give a virtual talk about the impacts of Brookhaven’s multifaceted COVID-19 research on Thursday, Feb. 25. The event, held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., will also include an interactive Q&A session, when audience members can submit questions for Hill and two of his colleagues:

Kerstin Kleese van Dam, Director of the Lab’s Computational Science Initiative
Sean McSweeney, Director of the Laboratory for BioMolecular Structure at Brookhaven

How to join the event—and ask a question

This event will stream live on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. During the Q&A session, audience members can ask questions, using those streaming platforms’ chat functions.

You don’t need an account with Twitter, Facebook, or Google to watch the talk. You do need an account to ask questions via chat. Or you can email questions to [email protected] before the talk.

About the speakers

John Hill is the Deputy Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Photon Sciences, and Director of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a DOE Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven Lab. He previously served as leader for the X-ray Scattering group in the Lab’s Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department. He is recognized as a world leader in x-ray scattering techniques for studying condensed matter systems.

Hill joined Brookhaven Lab as a postdoc in 1992, after earning a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Imperial College in London in 1986.

Kerstin Kleese van Dam is Director of the Computational Science Initiative (CSI) at Brookhaven Lab. CSI leverages computational science expertise and investments across multiple programs to tackle big-data challenges at the frontiers of scientific discovery. Kleese van Dam and collaborators at Brookhaven and Stony Brook University have applied simulations, machine learning, and other artificial intelligence tools in the fight against COVID-19.

Sean McSweeney is the Director of the Laboratory for BioMolecular Structure (LBMS) at Brookhaven. LBMS is home to state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopes and other equipment for researchers to study the building blocks of all living organisms. Most of the data McSweeney and his group collected for COVID-19 research was done at NSLS-II.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.

Follow @BrookhavenLab on Twitter or find us on Facebook.

Tuskegee Airman from Halesite to be added to Huntington World War II Memorial

by Press Release - February 23, 2021

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Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci announced on February 22 that the Town discovered over the weekend the name of a Tuskegee Airman from Halesite, Joseph B. Bennett, that will now be added to the Town’s World War II Memorial.

“On this final week of Black History Month in 2021, we are thrilled to be able to add this most deserving Word War II pilot, Joseph B. Bennett, to the Town of Huntington World War II Memorial in just the nick of time, thanks to the Newsday article on local Tuskegee Airmen and the great work of our Veterans Affairs Coordinator Carol Rocco,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci.

Town of Huntington Veterans Affairs Coordinator Carol Rocco was reading the Sunday Edition of Newsday this weekend and happened upon the article, Famed Tuskegee Airmen included LIers who paid a price abroad and at home, where she discovered one of the five Long Island airmen featured in the article was “2nd Lt. Joseph B. Bennett” of Halesite.

On Monday, February 22, Rocco returned to Huntington Town Hall and checked her database to find that Joseph B. Bennett was not in the list of names on the Town of Huntington World War II Memorial located in Veterans Plaza on the front lawn of Town Hall.

The World War II Memorial on Veterans Plaza honors the memory, service and sacrifice of Huntington’s World War II veterans; there are 6,000 names on the memorial, which have been added in four phases on 15 plaques. After significant community outreach over the past few years, the Town has been working on a final plaque of names of World War II veterans who ever lived in the Town to be added to the memorial.

The unveiling ceremony for the final plaque was expected to take place in June 2020 but the Town was forced to postpone the event due to COVID-19 gathering limitations and concerns; the delay and a final proofreading of the plaque allowed for the late Joseph B. Bennett’s name to be added on February 22, 2021, the final name of 364 new names to be added to the memorial on the last plaque.

Rocco researched Bennett’s name and found an obituary, which revealed he passed away at the age of 93 on January 13, 2021; she contacted the James Hunt Funeral Home in New Jersey who put her in touch with Bennett’s daughter, who gave approval to add his name to the World War II Memorial.

Joseph B. Bennett grew up in Halesite and entered the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama. As a WWII Pilot, he earned several medals and retired with the rank of Captain. As a civilian, Mr. Bennett continued his flying career flying private chartered planes for presidential families and other socialites until becoming an aviation consultant.

Photos of Tuskegee Airman Joseph B. Bennett provided by James Hunt Funeral Home

Northport Tigers girls basketball team takes two

by TBR Staff - February 23, 2021

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By Steven Zaitz

Have a nice weekend!

That is exactly what the Northport Lady Tigers basketball team did, as they swept two games this past Saturday and Sunday in this breakneck sprint of a season.

At home on Feb. 20, they toyed with a short-handed Connequot squad, beating them at home by a score of 74-14. On Sunday, they traveled to Sachem North and doused the Flaming Arrows, 72-54. The Lady Tigers are now 4-1 and have two games this week against league powers Walt Whitman and Commack.

As they have for most of this year, Juniors Sophia Bica and Sophia Yearwood led the way. Bica had 27 points against the Arrows and Yearwood added 20, including four 3-pointers.

The game was close for three quarters. With Northport up by six with five minutes to go in the game, Yearwood hit freshman sensation Kennedy Radziul with a beautiful dribble penetration pass. Yearwood then canned two 3-pointers in a row from opposite elbows. The Tiger lead had now ballooned to 12 with only 3 1/2 minutes to go. It was flame-out for the Arrows.

“It is a great feeling to know that we can all have these moments where we can help seal the win,” said the team-first junior Yearwood. “As a team we were moving the ball well which helped us get open shots. During practices we really focus on trusting one another and playing as a team helps us play with confidence during games.”

Radziul, who comes from royal Northport basketball bloodlines, had a combined 12 points over the weekend after being sideline in COVID protocol. Coach Richard Castellano was excited to see her finally hit the floor. Against Sachem North, she had five assists, six rebounds and three steals to go along with her six points and showed a great deal of poise and all around court awareness – especially for a freshmen.

“She dominated Junior Varsity last year,” said Castellano. “I coached her mother and her aunt and between those two, they have three Suffolk County Player of the Year trophies, so yeah, I’m happy and excited to have her out there.”

Kim Ruck, Kennedy’s mother and Cami Ruck, her aunt were superstar players in the early 1990s and played in an era when Northport won six straight county championships.

“It’s cool to know that I’m playing in the same gym as my mom and aunt,” Radziul said. “Against Sachem North, I was nervous but really excited and it helped to know that my teammates have been in close games before and I’m glad we were able to step up for the win.”

Two other players who have had a hand in many wins, Emma Blanco and Hannah Morawski were honored before Saturday’s game, as graduating seniors and exemplary leaders.

“Emma and Hannah have had to step up as our team captains during this very unusual season,” said Yearwood. “I am impressed with their level of commitment to the team. They have both worked hard to motivate and encourage us.”

“Through the years, I have been blessed with great leaders and role models,” Castellano said proudly. “Whenever we go to youth basketball camps, these girls are so loved in the community and are revered by the elementary school kids, who all want to become Lady Tigers one day. Emma and Hannah are perfect examples of this.”

In the 60-point win on Saturday, Connequot only had seven players available. The Tigers led 20-2 after the first quarter and the remaining three quarters were the same type of story. Yearwood had 17 points and Bica 12. Freshman guard Brooke Kershow came off the bench to score 10 and Junior forward Alexa Vassallo had nine in the rout.

Section XI has installed an abbreviated playoff system for this season that will crown bi-league champions only. As of press time, the Lady Tigers are battling with Walt Whitman, Sachem North and Commack for one of two playoff spots that are granted to League II. They will combine with the top two teams in League I. Longwood, who the Tigers beat in the Suffolk County Championship last year, Sachem East and Ward Melville are the leading contenders in that group.

Northport girls basketball was dealt a blow to their playoff chances when they lost to Walt Whitman Feb. 23 by a score of 45-32. They were outscored 16-4 in the fourth quarter. They will play Commack Thursday, Feb. 25, which will likely be a ‘do or die’ game with respect to gaining a playoff berth.

Editorial: Black History Month, a time to learn

by TBR Staff - February 23, 2021

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Black History Month, which initially started as a weeklong commemoration in the early 20th century, has been a way to remember and celebrate important people and events in African American history officially for more than 50 years. After a tumultuous 2020, with several alleged police brutality cases against people of color across our nation, it’s more important than ever to recognize the contributions of Black Americans.

We’re not just talking about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks or former President Barack Obama (D), but also those who the spotlight hasn’t shone on enough or not at all. There are veterans who served in our armed forces, even when their fellow countrymen didn’t accept them as equals. There are entertainers who once were applauded when they were on stage but weren’t able to eat dinner at the same restaurant as those who were delighted by their performances. There are those who made great strides in science and aeronautics, who are barely mentioned in our history books.

The month is a reminder to reach out to our neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances and former classmates and listen to their stories. People just like us who work hard every day to provide a good life for themselves and their loved ones, and who dream of a better tomorrow. Yet, every day many Black Americans face obstacle after obstacle because they find — before they utter a word or make a move — they are being judged by the color of their skin.

Many of us can’t even comprehend being judged based on our bloodline. We heard the stories of our parents, grandparents or other ancestors who were once called derogatory names or turned away from jobs, some not even applying due to signs such as NINA (no Irish need apply) hung on workplace doors. But today, many of us couldn’t imagine this happening to us.

However, it’s happening every day, in our country, in our towns, even in our schools to those who are Black.

This past summer, journalism-style guidebooks used by papers across the country decided when describing Americans of African ancestry to no longer use “black” but “Black.” The call was made because lowercase is a color but uppercase signifies a culture. Capitalizing Black celebrates people who share history and culture just like Germans, Italians, Asians, Native Americans, Latinos and more.

Let’s not let this month pass without learning about our fellow Americans’ cultures and about them as human beings. Months dedicated to certain cultures provide the opportunity to learn more about the history of people outside of our inner circle and everyday lives. It gives us a chance to broaden our horizons and understand that we are all in this thing called life together, only if we realize just how similar and equal we are.

We are inviting readers to share their reflections about this year’s Black History Month in perspective articles. Submissions should be approximately 500 words, and we welcome photos to accompany the piece. Send articles and photos to Rita J. Egan at [email protected].

CAC presents virtual screening of ‘Bagpipes Calling!’

by Press Release - February 23, 2021

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unnamed — A scene from 'Bagpipes Are Calling!' Image from CAC

In anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington will present a virtual screening of “Bagpipes Calling!” on Thursday, March 4 at 7 p.m. Less than a year ago, the cinema hosted the world premiere of the short music documentary celebrating the Celtic spirit as it lives on through the members of a Long Island cultural institution, the Northport Pipe and Drum Band. They are now partnering with filmmaker Andrea Wozny and the Northport Pipe and Drum Band once again for this special live screening and a post-film discussion with director, cast, and crew!

Watch host Andrea Wozny and the Northport Pipe & Drum Band as they celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at their favorite pub in Bayport-Bluepoint, Long Island – the legendary Grey Horse Tavern. Weaving together music, history and culture, the film captures a behind the scenes experience of life in the band during this festive piping season.

Featuring the extraordinary talents of Luke Powers on the Uilleann pipes and the Great Highland Bagpipes, Tom Falco on guitar, Long Island’s own Northport Pipe & Drum Band, and Linda Ringhouse, beloved owner of the Grey Horse Tavern.

The post-film Q&A will feature panelists Andrea Wozny, Luke Powers, Tom Falco, Linda Ringhouse, and Kate Best.

Fee is $12, $10 members. To register, visit www.cinemaartscentre.org. For further information, email [email protected].

UK COVID-19 vaccination success story

by Rita J. Egan - February 23, 2021

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By Richard Tapp

Many TBR News Media readers have been frustrated at the slow, uneven COVID-19 vaccine rollout. With seemingly every friend in England saying, “I’ve just been vaccinated, how about you?” and with no personal appointment in sight, I asked Richard “Dickie” Tapp, of Burgess Hill, West Sussex, why he thought the U.K. vaccination scheme has been so successful.

As of mid-February, it is estimated that 21% of the total U.K. population has received the first dose, but with less than 1% fully vaccinated. In the U.S., the relative figures are 10% and 3%. I would add that the U.K. has a wider vaccination-acceptance culture, dating back to the smallpox and polio eras. Still, there could be rollout lessons for President Joe Biden (D) and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). The main difference is that U.S. citizens are having to fight overwhelmed state and big pharmacy websites for a paucity of appointments whereas, in the U.K., appointments are made by invitation for dedicated age groups. And the categories are not extended until each one is almost completed. — John Broven, TBR News Media copy editor

The rationale for the “working down through the age-groups” approach is to relieve pressure on the National Health Service [the publicly funded health care systems], which is on its knees. The “Kent” COVID mutation has driven the current surge in cases, proving to be far more contagious. Consequently, there have been far more hospital admissions than in the first wave in spring 2020. Intensive Care Unit doctors and nurses are exhausted, so it has been imperative to reduce the pressure on them. The older you are, the more likely you are to need hospitalization and possibly intensive care, hence the strategy to get the over-70s vaccinated as quickly as possible.

The main reason for the success of the U.K. vaccination campaign is that has been entrusted to the NHS, rather than one of the private sector companies with close associations to the governing Conservative Party which have made a mess of track and trace. The NHS is well versed in vaccination programs — for example, the annual winter-flu vaccination rollout — and so it’s right it should be entrusted with the task. Thanks heavens they got this one right. After a slow start, the NHS has been “on the money” although it is only fair to point out:

1. The army has been helping with the supply logistics, especially delivery.

2. The paperwork and supervision at vaccination centers are being largely handled by volunteers, such as the Lions and Rotary clubs. Also volunteers with some suitable experience — such as the Red Cross, St John Ambulance, retired nurses, etc.— have been trained in administering the vaccine. So, the burden hasn’t fallen totally on the NHS, which wouldn’t have been able to run the exercise just using its own resources.

The campaign works by the “patient” being contacted by their doctor’s office and offered an appointment, in the same way they would for a flu jab. However, in addition they are also contacted by their local NHS trust with a “we have reached your age group” letter offering an online link and a free telephone number by which to make an appointment. So, it’s a two-pronged approach. The strategy has been to work down though the age bands, first the over-80s, then in five-year bands ending with the 50-to-55 age group. To save general practitioner surgery telephone lines being overwhelmed, the instruction was to wait to be contacted and this has worked well. Dedicated vaccination centers have been set up at local community halls and venues — not just at hospitals and health centers.

The aim was to vaccinate all the 70-and-above group by Feb. 15. I had my doubts initially but the exercise has gone so well that on Feb. 8, Health Secretary Matt Hancock (Conservative) said that anyone over 70 who had not been contacted about an appointment should now get in touch with their GP surgery and/or phone the NHS free telephone number. That’s a reversal of the previous advice to wait to be contacted. Indeed, in some areas the rollout has gone so well that the 65-to-69-year-olds are now being vaccinated. I heard on local radio that the large seaside town of Eastbourne in Sussex is already calling forward this age group.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, a quarter of adults have already received one dose, including around nine in 10 over-70s. My view is that the five-year age-banding strategy has been a good one. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew in one go” is a good adage.

I think I must add a couple of caveats:

1. The overall age-group percentage figure will be lower as there is still some resistance to the vaccine, especially in Black and
Asian communities.

2. The U.K. figures look good as they are those who have had the first jab. Very few have had the second jab. The U.K. vaccination committee took a gamble in moving the second jab to 12 weeks rather than the three weeks recommended by Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The gamble has paid off as the first jab is being shown to provide 50%-to-60% protection — enough to prevent serious illness — and the strategy has been endorsed by the World Health Organization. Of course, the rollout to the under-65s will slow as the 12-week anniversary of those who’ve had their first jab comes into play.

While I am proud of the vaccination rollout and the way volunteers have come forward, the downside is that is that it has given Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Conservative) his “get out of jail card.” People seem to have forgotten the disgraceful mortality figures and passing 100,000 deaths just four weeks ago. It’s a number which shames the country with so many of these due to the mistakes Johnson’s government made, yet the daily deaths — only recently under 1,000 per day — are now barely mentioned.

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