UNDER COVID, PT. 34: NO SHOT IN THE ARM

As in, where are the damn vaccines?!

When the COVID vaccinations recently became available here in New York,
there was an overall feeling that within weeks, everybody would have gotten hypoed into health, allowing us all to once again resume the privilege of paying for overcrowded restaurants, theaters, and subways by the spring thaw.

 

 

"Mr. Richards, you're next."

That was before New York state drew up guidelines as to who qualified for the first doses. Some made sense -- frontline workers, medical professionals, those 65 and over. Then came others, like teachers. OK, fine, I get it.

Gradually, the list included fat people, smokers, and junkies. People who choose to live unhealthy lives take precedence over folks like me: under 65 who eat their fruits and vegetables every day, don't smoke or shoot up, and work out a few times a week. Boy, have I been doing things the wrong way!

As a medical pro and having recently turned 65, my wife qualifies. The problem is finding an opening in the city. Right now, she's on a waitlist at two or three pharmacies that will likely give you a two-hour notice to come in and get shot. Otherwise, it's back to the bottom of the heap to start the whole process over again. 

Looks like a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to
visit there.

Think I'm exaggerating? The only place in the entire state that has openings is Potsdam -- a town roughly 20 minutes from the Canadian border. It's a six hour car drive, while a bus is four hours longer. Non-direct flights (the only kind) take anywhere from four to 13 hours. This is the 21st-century?

Yet the numbers of infected New Yorkers is dropping fast enough for restaurants to have a 35% indoor capacity starting this coming Friday. Broadway theaters, however, might not be open for business until September. And even then, it's unlikely they'll get the green light to fill more than 50% of the seats, if that. So if you're itching to drop $400 on a front row seat for the latest musical, it's best to wait for mid-2022 to do so. Start saving now!

But forget about businesses. You know who's taken the biggest COVID-related hit in New York lately? Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Once regarded as the savior of the Empire State, the governor won the rare honor of an Emmy award for his "masterful" press COVID-19 briefings.

That was then. Today, Cuomo is the subject of a federal investigation, along with demands from the left, right, and in between for his resignation. 

Another hard-hitting interview with the governor.

This is what happens when you threaten lawmakers and lie about COVID deaths in nursing homes. Suddenly, the memories of those interviews with his goofy brother on CNN -- a conflict of interest if there ever was one -- are less amusing and more annoying. Toldja so!

 

So far has Cuomo's star fallen that even his favorite punching bag, Mayor Bill de Blasio, is taking a victory lap. Last week on Morning Joe, de Blasio was asked about the latest reports of the governor promising Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim, "You will be destroyed" and "You will be finished" -- and not by COVID, either.

In earlier times, de Blasio might have shrugged and said, "Look, I don't know what anybody said." But now, with the wind of Democrats, Republicans, and the local press at his back, he responded, "That's classic Andrew Cuomo." He added, for good measure, "The bullying is nothing new," calling it "very, very sad." Warning to the governor: if our idiot mayor isn't backing down, you're in trouble.

Since when was Andrew Cuomo not aggressive?

Later that day, during his daily briefing, Cuomo, in response to a question regarding de Blasio's impatience with the slow vaccine roll-out, said the mayor was "confused". That's the best he can do? 

As for the nursing home controversy, Cuomo spent roughly 10 minutes saying that he should have been clearer about the numbers, before handing it over to others on the panel to clean up his mess. 

Finally catching on to what everybody else was saying a year ago, CNN decided last week that Chris Cuomo will no longer be allowed to interview the governor. Too bad. I've had this fantasy of the Television Academy demanding that Andrew return his Emmy, allowing Chris the opportunity to finally gloat over his big brother, "Nyah-nyah, I get to keep my Emmy and you don't!", while Andrew replies, "You will be destroyed!"

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