>And I know you were frustrated earlier on about being moved out of the
>line because of your high risk. But from a public policy standpoint,
>that came from two different things: We've moved from the phase of
>vaccine rarity to vaccine abundance. The other is that when you're
>trying to run a large scale vaccine program, verifying all sorts of
>medical information ties up expertise that could be used to put shots
>in arms. If all you have to do is look at an ID card, anyone can do
>it, and it takes less than a minute.

The second point is likely to be the more operative one in this instance, because...

>(This is also why age-based programs like Medicare work well, but
>welfare programs like unemployment and Medicaid where you have to
>verify eligibility are a mess.

... even with a Democratic administration in place, the authorities that administer state assistance programs of all kinds in Maine are constantly paranoid about the possibility that they might accidentally help too many people. Better to screw over a thousand who need help than run the risk of allocating resources to one who doesn't.

>It sucks to be the one personally affected by inequitable
>distribution, but hey, it probably only cost you a week or two delay,
>and you're not dead yet.

Well, more like eight to ten (Tier 1B was supposed to be served in February, before the whole plan was abandoned that very month). What really galls me about it, beyond having been personally screwed yet again by the public health authorities of Maine, is their blather about how doing it the way they ended up doing it is more equitable. Evenly distributing a finite resource across a population that doesn't have a uniform need for it isn't equity, it's laziness at best and backhanded negative selection at worst.

>Have fun with the refrigerator. I had one break down three or four
>years ago, and got another side-by-side model off of Craigslist for
>about $400. It doesn't go with the kitchen decor (why is everything
>silver and black now?) but it was definitely worth the price.

I looked at trying to find one used, but then I would have to get it inside somehow, which was barely doable with the much smaller and lighter Emergency Fridge. When the appliance in question tops 250 pounds, professional deliverers are really the only way forward when you and literally everyone you know in person is old, broken, or both, and that means buying new.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.