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First Batches of Coronavirus Vaccine on the Way; Fair Distribution Depends on Accurate Census

Published 2020-12-13 by Cory Allen Heidelberger

The vaccines are coming! The vaccines are coming! Sometime this week UPS and FedEx should bring us 7,800 Pfizer doses to start vaccinating our 23,171 healthcare workers against coronavirus so they can more safely stay on the job as reckless Noem-yahoos and their victims keep overloading the ERs and ICUs. Once the FDA gives the green light, we expect to get 14,600 doses of Moderna vaccine. (If your Christmas packages come a day later than expected, tough shiskey—UPS and FedEx are serving our country.)

The Trump Administration decided to distribute coronavirus vaccine to the states by population. The first batch of 7,800 is just about right for our share of the 2.9 million doses coming this week. If South Dakota’s projected total 22,400-vaccine allotment for December is properly proportional to our 2019 population of 885,000, then we should see every state receiving enough doses to vaccinate 2.5% of their populations. (Remember, full vaccination against coronavirus will require two shots a couple-three weeks apart, so those lucky first 22,400 will have to come back in January for another shot.)

The New York Times is trying to get expected vaccine figures from all 50 states and our territories, but the numbers vary widely due to how the locals answered the question. Some states responded with their first-batch expectations: 15,600 Pfizer doses right away in Nebraska, 12,675 in the first round in New Hampshire. Some states responded with the expected shipments for all of December: 95,000 in Iowa, 183,400 to Minnesota, 60,000 to Montana, and 43,075 to North Dakota. Some states, like Wyoming, didn’t bother to respond. Some states may have oopsied on the phone to NYT: South Dakota, for instance, seems to have told NYT that the 7,800 Pfizer doses are the expectation for the whole month and didn’t mention the 14,600 Moderna doses in the chute. So we can’t make too much of this particular report and apparent differences in reported per-population allotments. Everyone is scrambling to get doses from factory to plane to fridge to arm as quickly as possible, and there may be some discrepancies in reporting.

But among other things we’re learning, this crash course in nationwide vaccination is another reminder of how important it is to do the Census right. To ensure equitable distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, we have to know how many people are in each state and each community. Otherwise, we could end up depriving those communities where folks don’t respond to the Census or where the government doesn’t invest enough resources to get a full count of all the people (and remember: coronavirus doesn’t ask about immigration status).

Published in South Dakota

12 Comments

  1. John Dale

    None for me, thanks.

    Godspeed, guine pigs.

    2020-12-13
  3. Tim

    I will gladly roll up my sleeves, twice.

    2020-12-13
  4. mike from iowa

    drumpf will likely send the doses back until a provided to you by drumpf acknowledgement is attached to each vial. Would not surprise me.

    2020-12-13
  6. mike from iowa

    drumpf/noem body count last call today…

    Last updated: December 16, 2020, 00:35 GMT
    United States
    Coronavirus Cases:
    17,119,531
    Deaths:
    310,649

    Blew past 17 million cases today. Count started at 208,010.

    2020-12-15
  8. grudznick

    Mr. Dale, do you often eat at the Steerfish joint in your town?

    2020-12-15
  9. mike from iowa

    With at least an hour to go on today’s body count, the bodies are winning bigly….

    Last updated: December 16, 2020, 23:32 GMT
    United States
    Coronavirus Cases:
    17,353,637
    Deaths:
    314,176

    Well over 3k today as predicted.

    2020-12-16
  10. mike from iowa

    Final call on drumpf/noem body count for today….

    United States
    Coronavirus Cases:
    17,385,517
    Deaths:
    314,525

    Looks like 3876 bodies today. Must be a record for one day.

    2020-12-16
  11. mike from iowa

    drumpf/noem body count just keeps growing…

    Last updated: December 18, 2020, 01:04 GMT
    United States
    Coronavirus Cases:
    17,617,710
    Deaths:
    317,660

    another 3k+ bodies fall by the wayside.

    2020-12-17
  12. mike from iowa

    Final drumpf/noem body count call for today….

    Last updated: December 19, 2020, 00:39 GMT
    United States
    Coronavirus Cases:
    17,876,875
    Deaths:
    320,742

    Another 3k bodies to be added to the total hoax.

    2020-12-18

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