In op-ed on COVD-19 vaccine bumble, doctors fail to note the lack of a true national health system

In their op-ed about COVID-19 vaccine distribution (“The US bungled its COVID-19 vaccine distribution,” Aug. 14), Drs. Cory Franklin and Robert Weinstein embody the adage, “Hindsight is 20/20.” They enumerate failures of policymakers and officials up and down the line to be perfect in the face of chaos. Oh the humanity!

Franklin and Weinstein wait till the middle of the op-ed before they start using the word “scandal” to describe these lapses — which includes the suggestion that somehow “Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon” could have stepped in and easily solved distribution and allocation problems.

On the other hand, they make no mention of what seems to me one of the main factors in our confused response: the lack of a true national health system. Back when President Harry Truman wanted us to go down that road, it smacked too much of communism for the Cold War warriors in Congress to enact, so we’re stuck with a hodgepodge of interconnecting private and governmental health care entities with competing agendas and systems that communicate with one another only on a rudimentary level.

If I need to fill out forms with my personal medical history every time I go to a new doctor — meaning the doctor’s practice has to waste time and expense inputting data that already exists in other databases — then we’re a long way from preparedness for the next pandemic.

— John Podulka, Wolverine, Michigan

The editorial “Vaccines save lives. If your doctor recommends them, don’t hesitate.” on Aug. 16 is a reminder of when investigative journalism falls short. Rather than actually dig deeper and attack the arguments of a prominent politician, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the editorial board decides to make surface-level attacks on his character and decide for the reader that Kennedy “lies” and is akin to an idiot. Why not counter Kennedy’s claims by stating what they are and using facts to show why they are wrong? How can we readers know he is a liar without knowing what claims of his are lies?

Not once did the editorial board tell us what Kennedy explicitly said about vaccines — just that some people on “social media” are circulating vaccine “nonsense.” How specific.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for vaccines (proudly got my COVID-19 shots) because I think vaccines are integral to protecting us from public health threats and preventing pandemics. But launching blanket attacks on relatively high-polling presidential candidates without informed argumentation does a disservice to readers who nowadays are hard-pressed to find out the objective truth in a divided society.

If you’re going to argue against somebody on an important issue such as public health, first show us what they’re for, then tell us why they are wrong.

— Max Rosen, Glencoe

Let’s hope the “Save Dr. Allison Arwady” virus is running its course. Rearguing the 3-year-old battle over who was right and who was wrong about COVID-19 school closings and openings is pointless. Anyone with any understanding of government knows that at-will administrators come and go — and the most professional of them leaves in a dignified, discreet manner.

One might begin to think there’s more to this little campaign than one person’s job, a job for which there are many capable candidates. Undermining the new mayor by creating a flap over something so irrelevant to the functioning of city government may benefit certain groups, but it threatens ultimate harm to the people who so recently voiced their desire for a fresh approach to the city’s most critical needs.

— Julie Woestehoff, Arlington Heights

Maybe Mayor Brandon Johnson can call up Florida Gov. (and Donald Trump punching bag) Ron DeSantis and see if Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, has a similarly sycophantic twin brother.

— Brian Collins, Orland Park

I’m confused. Letter writer Michael Gorman (“Representing ‘masculinity,’” Aug. 16) says that, upon seeing a photo of prominent conservative Ben Shapiro, his comments on “endangered masculinity” can be dismissed because he’s a “moussed, belligerent-looking twerp.”

Really? I thought a core belief of the American left was opposition to objectifying people based on their surface appearance. But perhaps that changed when the left decided that everyone’s identity is determined by skin color.

— John Knoerle, Shorewood, Wisconsin

What a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you. The beautiful story of Michael Oher has taken a sad and ugly twist. If it were not for Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy who took Oher off the street, he would not be the man he is today. He could have ended up like many others who have slipped through the cracks. Instead, Oher received an education, played in the NFL for eight seasons and is a multimillionaire.

However, that is not enough. So Oher is suing the family who gave him love and turned his life around. Talk about ingratitude.

— JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater, Florida

Thanks to the Tribune for keeping history alive with the recent story “‘The Blonde Tigress’ The capture of a murder accomplice captivated Chicagoans throughout 1933. Then she vanished.” (Aug. 13). Writer Ron Grossman remains true to the title in retelling the sensationalized story of Eleanor Jarman that the Tribune had published in years past. However, Grossman’s mention of my book “In Search of the Blonde Tigress: The Untold Story of Eleanor Jarman” missed the whole point of her biography.

What name Jarman used and where she is buried are not nearly as important as gaining insight into who she was as a woman. From a study of court documents revealing actual witness testimonies, my fellow researchers and I learned that Jarman was not vicious and did not beat her victims. She got caught up in a crime spree and, after her escape, lived out her life as an ordinary woman. And it was the ordinary woman whom her family tried to find.

May she rest in peace.

— Silvia Pettem, Ward, Colorado

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