Written by Joseph Perez
Governor Newsom has yet again shown complete disregard for the people of California as counties across the state continue to express alarm and distress regarding the vaccination process.
Blue Shield and OptumServe, two companies that Governor Newsom has authorized partnerships, have proven to be problematic when it comes to distributing vaccines.
Lassen County, in Northeastern California, has shut down vaccination sites operated by OptumServe due to their poor handling of Covid-19 safety protocols. Despite that, Newsom announced his administration would be authorizing the 80 OptumServe vaccination sites throughout the entire state.
Among the many Californians trying to work with the Governor to find common sense solutions is San Diego’s own Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-50). In a letter to Newsom Congressman Issa urged the Governor to take action regarding the long wait times many Californians are experiencing when it is their turn to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Due to the Governor’s questionable partnerships with companies like Blue Shield and OptumServe, at-risk Californians are forced to wait days to get vaccinated. The lack of coordination and plain common-sense from the state government and its partners hurt our hardest hit communities.
We can hear firsthand about the Governor’s incompetence from members of his own Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee. Dr. Mike Wasserman, former President of the California Association for Long Term Care Medicine commented “My worst nightmares have been coming true over the last few weeks.” Another member of the Governor’s vaccine committee stated that hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 vaccines across the state are sitting unused in warehouses, and may very well be wasted.
