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This is success? Hardly!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s face facts.

The United States of America comprises 5 percent of the world’s population.

However, our great nation accounts for 20 percent of the worldwide death toll attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These two statistics are worth noting because of a third number: 500,000, which is the number of Americans who have died from the pandemic in a year.

I mention this yet again because we were told a year ago by the then-president of the United States that we had the disease “under control.” It wasn’t.

Is the disease under control now? There exist signs that it well might be starting to be corralled. Vaccinations are being delivered. Americans are wearing masks, are keeping their distance from each other and avoiding what doctors all “congregant settings.”

That is progress. If only we could have been spared the lies about having a killer “under control.”

national news

Biden set to re-emerge

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

While many of us around the country were fixated on the Senate impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, his immediate successor as president was, shall we say, lurking in the shadows.

President Biden chose to do the smart thing. He said virtually nothing about Trump’s troubles in the Senate. The president blew off questions from reporters on the impeachment trial. He said the Senate would do its work; that the managers would do their work; he expressed next to zero interest in the trial.

I don’t believe much of that. I cannot possibly know how the president spent the bulk of his day, but I feel reasonably certain he had one eye on the trial even as he sought to gather support for the COVID relief package he is ramrodding through Congress.

What I do find refreshing, though, is the relative public silence that President Biden has maintained. It’s remarkable, too, given that Vice President Kamala Harris’s name emerged as a possible witness in the Trump trial; Trump’s legal team reportedly was interested in issuing a subpoena for the VP. The “why” of it, though, remains a mystery to me.

The trial is now over. Donald Trump is officially acquitted of the charge that he incited an insurrection. Our attention now can turn to actual governance, actual legislation, actual negotiation between the head of the executive branch of government and those who lead the legislative branch.

Trump’s future as an active politician, by my reckoning, is likely finished.

I intend to focus more attention on issues that matter and on the politicians who have a direct hand in determining the direction of this great country.

medical news

Halfway to immunization

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

We’re halfway to being fully immunized in our house.

I got my first Pfizer vaccine a little more than a week ago. My much better half, aka my bride, got her Pfizer shot this past week.

In two weeks I will return to the VA Medical Center in south Dallas for my second dose; my bride returns to John Clark Stadium in nearby Plano for hers.

What does that mean in terms of our lifestyle? Nothing, man. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing since, oh, this past summer. Which is that we’re going to stay mostly away from restaurants, we will keep wearing masks, we’ll be washing our hands frequently and feverishly, we’ll splash sanitizer on our hands as well, we will maintain appropriate “social distance” from everyone we see.

That’s how we intend to live for the foreseeable future.

I highly recommend that all Americans follow our lead. We have to get through this pandemic together … right? Right!

local news, medical news, military news

VA comes through once again

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I consider it a “pre-paid benefit,” and I use it whenever and wherever possible.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs stands ready to assist 18 million American veterans for whatever needs arise. So with that, I will tell you that I got a phone call the other day from the VA. The automated voice informed me that I could call a number and make an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the VA North Texas Medical Center in Dallas. I jumped all over it.

I ended the call, then phoned the number the “voice” gave me. After a lengthy wait, a human being picked up on the other end and she set up an appointment. I could come in the very next day!

And so … the demystifying of this process kicked in.

I received the Pfizer vaccine the next day. My wife and I drove from Princeton all the way through McKinney, Allen, Plano, Richardson and then through Dallas. We navigated our way through the Interstate 30/35E/45 interchange next to downtown Dallas and then arrived at the VA medical center.

We parked in a garage close to the building where I needed to wait for my shot.

I walked in, got my temperature taken and then trekked down the hall to check in with the clerks who were running the inoculation entry station. Here is where my heart began to sink. Why?

Well, when I talked to the lady on the phone the previous day, she told me that a mid-afternoon appointment was likely to mean sparse attendance at the clinic where we reported for our vaccination. What I saw upon arrival, though, was, um, vastly different from what the lady on the phone led me to believe would occur.

I walked down the hall past a long, seemingly interminable line of masked-up veterans. I turned down three more halls and found the end of the line.

My first thought when I got there – which I believe I muttered out loud under my own mask – was “holy crap! I am going to be here forever!” I phoned my wife, who was waiting outside and informed her that I was at the end of a line with at least 300 people in front of me. “I’m going to be here a while,” I told her.

Then a bloody miracle happened! At least it seemed like a miracle. It seemed as though I had been waiting for less than 30 minutes when I found myself suddenly at the desk where I had checked in. I was about to enter the room where 24 inoculation stations were set up.

Jeff Clapper, public affairs officer for the North Texas VA Health Care System, suggests it’s all according to plan. The system, he said in a statement, “has been remarkably effective at immunizing VA North Texas staff and patients, successfully delivering 11,600 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to date, with wait times consistently below 45 minutes.”

Clapper added, “The Dallas (point of distribution) is currently vaccinating both eligible veterans and VA North Texas employees by appointment only; no walk-ins allowed.” He said the North Texas VA office “contacted over 25,000 priority eligible enrolled outpatients via phone call.” He said the Dallas POD is now booking new vaccination appointments for not earlier than the first week of March.”

I have been enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs medical program for just a few years. I signed up when I was living in Amarillo and have found the VA level of service to be exemplary. I had nothing but smooth sailing at the Thomas Creek VA Medical Center in Amarillo. The level of service remains high at the Sam Rayburn Medical Center in Bonham, where I go these days for my regular wellness visits. That brings me to another point: I have suffered no medical emergencies, but at my age I am aware that my luck is likely to run out … eventually.

The Dallas visit to obtain my first Pfizer vaccine shot to prevent me from catching the COVID virus only enhances my good feelings toward the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I am sure I can speak for many veterans who appreciate the care they get. I understand that no massive government system is perfect. For me, though, it’s been pretty close to perfection.

For now, at least.

NOTE: This blog post was published initially on KETR-FM’s website.

local news, medical news

Not so fast on reopening!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

My friends and former neighbors in Amarillo, Texas, might be facing a relapse, a return to the conditions that caused plenty of alarm in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

City and county officials are planning to allow the reopening of bars, restaurants and other public gathering places. Why? Because hospitalization rates are plummeting.

I would like to offer a word of caution: Don’t do it! At least not just yet!

KFDA News Channel 10 reports: The city has been under the 15% hospitalization rate threshold for six days now. If the city remains under that rate for one more day, Amarillo will no longer be considered an area of high hospitalization. City Manager Jared Miller said bars in Potter and Randall counties may reopen at 50% percent capacity if the hospitalization rate remains under 15% as of 4:00 p.m. today.

Amarillo businesses to reopen, expand capacity thanks to low hospitalization rates (newschannel10.com)

Here’s my concern: What happens if hospitalization and infections spike again in Amarillo? Does the city close the place down once more?

Amarillo has been getting a good bit of media love in recent days over the vaccination rate it has been providing. The city ranks at or near the top of all American cities in the inoculation rate it is delivering to residents. I applaud the city for its response to the pandemic.

My concern from my perch 350 miles away is that the city might be getting a bit too cavalier as it seeks to reopen its business community.

The pandemic ain’t over! There might be a whole lot more suffering to come. Indeed, scientists and physicians are warning that the worst has yet to arrive.

I want all of our cities to reopen. I just don’t want to rush it.

“We need everyone to continue doing what we’re doing that’s effecting our numbers in such a positive ways,” said Mayor Ginger Nelson. “I want to be very clear this morning that we can’t ease up. We’re not at the finish line yet.”

Be very, very careful.

medical news

Frustration? Yes, but there’s an end to it

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I feel the need to offer a note of frustration in dealing with obtaining a vaccine shot to fend off the COVID-19 virus.

We are on different inoculation tracks in our house. I received my first vaccine shot from the North Texas Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dallas; I’ll get my second shot in a few days.

My wife is getting her first vaccine dose later this week. She is obtaining hers through one of Collin County’s vaccination “hubs,” at John Carter Stadium in Plano, Texas. She’ll be there, get her shot and then we’ll return home.

My frustration dealt with trying to talk to a living, breathing human being at the Collin County Health Department. I couldn’t connect with a living person as I sought to clarify an issue that needed immediate attention.

We got two phone calls today from Collin County. The first one dealt with my appointment at Carter Stadium; we had registered with the county wait list and today our names came up. I sought to call the county back to tell someone that I didn’t need to report for my vaccine; the Department of Veterans Affairs has me covered. I couldn’t find anyone with whom I could clarify the issue.

The second call came about 30 minutes later. The recorded voice told me that my wife had been scheduled at the stadium on the same day I was supposed to report. Fine. Good deal. She’s in!

I am well aware that our health agencies are facing intense pressure to answer questions from anxious Americans. I tend to get hyper-anxious when I cannot obtain answers in a timely, efficient fashion. I am not leveling blame at anyone. I merely am expressing a level of frustration linked directly to the potential consequence of something slipping through the cracks.

We’re dealing straight on with a virus that has killed far north of 400,000 Americans. My most sincere aim is to get answers quickly from fellow human beings who get paid to provide them.

There. Rant over. We’re taking one step at a time toward protecting ourselves from this killer. I believe the frustration will subside.

national news

Compromise anyone?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s see how this plays out.

President Biden wants Congress to approve a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that kicks out more money for families and helps educators, while speeding up the vaccinations aimed at killing the pandemic.

Congressional Republicans want a $618 billion package that is more “targeted” for specific needs.

Here’s a thought. Why not meet in the middle? Congress could approve a $1.2 trillion package, which is just about the mid point between the president’s pitch and the counter offer from the GOP.

Isn’t that what effective legislation is all about? Compromise, anyone?

medical news

Stay focused on COVID

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

One of the many — seemingly countless — blessings of the new presidential administration is its telling us the truth daily about the pandemic that is still killing too many Americans.

President Biden is letting the scientific team he has assembled talk to us about the COVID crisis; he is staying out of the way and out of the limelight.

We aren’t hearing happy talk from the White House about how we have the virus “under control,” nor are we hearing from the president how we should employ miracle cures, such as injecting household cleaners into our bodies.

I keep hearing snippets of good news, about how the hospitalization rate is showing a modest, but steady decline. The virus continues to sicken too many of us; it is killing too many of us as well.

We are hearing the truth, finally, from the people in charge about how this fight against the pandemic is proceeding. I will listen to the scientists and just like with his predecessor, I will effectively disregard any political diagnosis from President Biden about the status of that conflict.

national news

No more POTUS spin in briefing room

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden made a hefty number of promises while campaigning for the office he won.

One of them involved his commitment to listening to the “science” as it regards the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

So … with that he said he wouldn’t step to the White House briefing room podium and try to speak on issues about which he knows nothing. The pandemic virus continues to rage across the nation. Joe Biden isn’t being seen at the briefing room rostrum talking about the virus, thinking out loud about possible “cures,” such as whether one could inject or ingest cleaning fluid that would wipe out the virus just like that.

Yes, until Jan. 20, we had a president who did that. He is now gone from office. President Biden is letting the scientists and the medical doctors speak on the details of the fight that continues.

I know we shouldn’t relish what should be taken as normal behavior by a president. It is difficult to resist commenting on it given the incessant pattern of lies and misstatements that came from President Biden’s immediate predecessor.

Indeed, it wasn’t as if I could take anything that Donald Trump ever told me seriously. I grew early in his term to disbelieve every single statement that he sputtered out.

The new president isn’t likely to create that credibility misery by saying things out loud that he has no business saying. President Biden will let the scientists speak about matters they studied. They are the folks with knowledge to pass on what they know to be true.

local news

Some communities respond beautifully to vaccine effort

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Good news needs sharing, so I’ll do it here.

I keep seeing social media posts from friends in the Texas Panhandle who proclaim they have received both of their COVID-19 vaccine shots. They all live in Amarillo, where we lived for more than two decades before moving to the Metroplex in 2018.

It strikes me that Amarillo has earned the applause it is getting over the way it has handled the vaccine response protocol with which it has been forced to operate.

Amarillo reportedly is No. 1 in the nation in the rate of vaccines. Collin County, where we now live? Not so good, although I understand it is kicking into a higher gear with a new “mega” vaccine center opening up in Plano. My wife and I are on a waiting list. We hope to get called soon by Collin County’s health department.

This brief post is intended to toss some praise at Amarillo for doing a bang-up job in getting its residents inoculated against a virus that has infected a large number of my friends, former colleagues and former news sources. It has taken the lives of many fine individuals who made Amarillo and the Panhandle a special and vibrant place.

Have we turned the corner as a nation? Probably not just yet. I keep hearing that we might be starting the long ride out of the deep, dark woods with this killer virus. More misery lies ahead.

However, I am heartened beyond measure by the good news I am hearing from my old haunts. I enjoy learning about the hurdles my friends are clearing as they continue their own struggle against the virus that continues to haunt us all.