By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com
Texas Panhandle media are reporting that flights are arriving from Mexico carrying so-called “elites” who are getting vaccinated in Amarillo against the COVID-19 virus.
A news report from KVII Channel 7 says the flights are departing from near Mexico City, stopping in San Antonio and then going to Amarillo where passengers are getting the vaccines.
What is not being reported, and which could place this matter in its proper context, are the numbers of foreign nationals who are getting the vaccines. Is it in the dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?
I doubt it’s in the thousands of individuals. Hundreds might be a stretch.
Foreign elites flying to Amarillo for vaccination | KVII (abc7amarillo.com)
U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, the area’s newly elected congressman, said he opposes giving the shots to foreigners. He doesn’t stipulate, though, whether any local residents are being deprived of the vaccine. He said in a statement: “If this report is true, it is a serious problem. Amarillo should not be a hub for medical tourism at the expense of hardworking Texans. Non-citizens should not receive the COVID-19 vaccine in our state until all Texans who want a vaccine are vaccinated — bottom line.”
Amarillo has become something of a case study for how administering this vaccine is supposed to work. The inoculation protocol there reportedly has gone very well, and it has gotten the attention from those around the nation — and apparently across our borders.
If there remain enough vaccines for everyone, then I do not see a problem.
When I was getting my second shot, there was a group of Hispanic folks being escorted into the vaccination area. I really didn’t think much about it at the time except they weren’t going through the zig zag line like the rest of us. Looking back, I now pause and ponder what I may have seen.