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BULLETIN 8:15 AM, MR. OSSOFF HAS JUST DECLARED VICTORY IN HIS RACE WITH MR. PERDUE AS MARGIN WIDENS.
HUMDINGERS! THE GEORGIA SENATE RUNOFFS AS OF 7 AM EST
QUESTIONS WE HAVE LOTS AND LOTS OF QUESTIONS. AND NO ANSWERS ON LEISURELY VACCINATIONS. MEDICAL CENTER THIS MORNING “WE ARE MOVING SWIFTLY”
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7 consecutive days of positive cases in Westchester County. Infection rate average: 7.67% Positives (containment rate:1.1) Average number of new cases a day: 778. Hit the arrow and follow how positives have risen since December 29. Hospitals slow on vaccinations put Westchesters 975,000 without Covid in danger and hospital capacity to care for them at risk
WPCNR INQUIRING REPORTER. Some News and Some Comment. By John F. Bailey January 5, 2021 UPDATED 12 NOON JANUARY 6, 2020:
This morning after reading Westchester County Executive George Latimer’s statement issued at 6:15 PM last night the County had no authority over the Westchester County Medical Center, but would help organize vaccinations if the state directed, I was shocked.
Shocked, I say that the vaccinations of essential health workers were slow.
After reading in WCBS Ch 2 that Governor Andrew Cuomo wanted the vaccinations done faster, that Westchester County Medical Center had only vaccinated 32% of its 3,342 employees (as of 2017), I was infuriated.
So I called the Westchester County Medical Center at 8:30 AM and asked for their press office or media relations office. The operator transferred me to “marketing.”
The person answering told me they were all in a meeting.
They took my number and said Camilla Morrisey would return my call. The person said they were in a meeting.
I asked the marketing person what was the reason or reasons the Center has only inoculated 32% of their personnel in two weeks? Was it the effect of the holidays? How soon did they expect to complete inoculations of all staff and who remains? What are they trying to do to accelerate the process?
Then I said, wait a minute.
The county would know. Of course.
County Executive George Latimer made that statement, in his news conference he’d been in touch and talked with Mr. Israel on the matter. He should know.
I came up with 10 questions for the county, since Westchester Medical Center had not called back, (and added in parentheses) follow up questions for future inquiring reporters for reference:
I sent out some questions to the Westchester County Communications Department. They were:
1.Has the Medical Center told Mr. Latimer, how many more “employees” they have left to vaccinate?
2. How long does the Medical Center estimate it will take to get all employees to be vaccinated, vacinated?
3. Is the Medical Center still accepting elective procedures operations, etc.?( If they are, why?)
4. Were all Medical Center staff available since the Medical Center got the vaccine supply to be vaccinated (i.e., not on vacation)
5. What is the detailed procedure of covid vaccinations on a daily basis? How many a day do they do?(We should know that, right now).
6. How many employees–doctors, nurses, desk people–get vaccinated a day–average?
7. Does the Medical Center have an explanation for what Governor Cuomo says has to be faster?
8. Who planned the procedure at the Medical Center…and for how long were they working on developing the procedure
9. Is the medical center going to issue a statement?
10. Did the Medical Center brief the county on their procedure before they started the vaccinations for the employees, medical, clerical, whatever– and did they clear it with the Governor and Dr. Zucker, the Commissioner of Health
I received one answer back:
“You need to call the medical center.”
I want to repeat that so that can sink in and the meaning of it:
“You need to call the medical center.”
Please, the hospitals have to answer these questions.
This morning in a message sent yesterday evening which WPCNR received this morning, the Westchester Medical Center Health Network issued this statement:
Westchester Medical Center is moving swiftly through our vaccine allocation.
Daily we are vaccinating hundreds of our workforce members.
Earlier this week, we also began administering the second dose to our workforce.
We are closely following New York State guidelines for vaccine prioritization and distribution, and are working under those guidelines hand-in-hand with nearly 200 community partners, including county departments of health, local government, emergency service and other community providers, to deploy vaccine allocations as they become available.
In response to this statement today, Wednesday, I sent the obvious followups:
1. When does the Medical Center expect to complete all first and second doses to all your personnel?
2. How many are left to get the second dose and how many have to get their first shot? Have gotten their first shot and awaiting their second shot, a numeric breakdown by category?
3. Is the second dose have a delay attached to it before it can be administered after the first shot, does that explain the “lag” criticized by the Governor?
4. Is there a shortage of vaccines to cover the persons in this first availability (your personnel) as seems alluded to in the last sentence of your statement?
5.Do you have enough vaccine on hand to move on to the elderly, then the general public?
6. Do you have an explanation for the delay (only 32% vaccinated according to the Governor) Monday
7. Does the Westchester Medical Center Health Care Network have enough approved drugs and emergency-use approved drugs to treat hospitalized Covid patients? Or do you anticipate needing more?
The county knows the answers. Or should. And hopefully County Executive will lay the situation out for us at his covid-19 briefing tomorrow at 2 PM
If the Westchester Medical Center has 3,342 employees of all the doctors, nurses, clerks, managers, what have you. You could vaccinate them all in 7 days if you inoculate 477 a day, that is 20 people an hour.
I want to repeat that.
If you vaccinated 477 a day that is 20 an hour if you went at it 24 hours a day.
If you did 60 inoculations an hour it would take you 55 hours
— which would mean you should have been able to inoculate all 3,342 who work there in 2 days.
But nooooooooooooooooooo…that was too inconvenient? Got in the way of making money?
Well it has been two weeks at this one hospital and they are not close.
This is unacceptable.
It is incompetent.
It is the worst kind of planning.
I of course do not have covid yet.
I am waiting my turn to get it. The vaccination.
At this rate as the infections in Westchester have peaked to last winter’s levels (1,013 new cases last Friday comparable to the 1,000 on April 9, 2020 in Westchester alone) by the time I get a shot, with this kind of hospital performance, I may not be eligible because I may have covid.
So are the rest of you Mr. and Mrs. Westchester County.
If the Westchester Medical Center has innoculated 1/3 of their employees that means they have over 2,000 to go.
Can all the designated innoculator hospitals get on the stick?
What has to be done is a military operation.
The staffs, the front liners have to come on in and wait in line and get it done.
The more days it takes to get the professional health care workers innoculated , the more hospitalizations we will have.
And they are rising in Westchester at hospitalization rates right now that will deliver 275 new hospitalizations a day in two weeks time.
I’ve just been handed the Monday Covid Tracker results for Westchester Testing. Number tested: 8,819. The number of new cases testing positive 619, an infection rate of 7% which is what we have been averaging. I just did the math of the positives for the last week in the video at the top of this column.
In two weeks at a hospitalization rate of 5% this yields 30 hospitalizations for one day of positives, in 2 weeks. At 30 hospitalizations a day for 14 days this yields 420 hospitalizations,building building in exorably frazzling health care staffs to the bone.
And should the drugs used to treat covid not be there in good supply, you have the health crisis beyond imagination, because there is no outside the state medical backups ready to come in and help .
The hospitals are bungling the vaccine.
The outside aid from other states can’t come in because they are overwhelmed across the nation treating their own state residents.
No backup managers.
The beds set asde for covid patients (2,500) in the county could easily be overwhelmed in two weeks to three weeks. With no health care professional backups.
The hospitals have fumbled on first down deep in their own territory.
The bureaucracies as Governor Andrew Cuomo observed yesterday can’t handle it.
The County Executive has to know those answers and he should bring the hospitals on the carpet and demand a plan to fix it. Tomorrow. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
The silence today by the hospitals is a disgrace.
Perhaps, a “sorry,” might be in order. All that high paid management talent can’t do math.
Now, is not the time for discussion and cooperation.
Now is the time for decisive action! Do this do that. Set them up alphabetically and staff it up and get those shots done. Because you have to repeat a second time.
Think it through!
We trusted you.
I mean how long did the hospitals actually think about these plans to inoculate?
Once again the Governor has trusted the top officials in hospital management trusting ineptitude to execute and they have messed up, putting 925,000 approximately Westchesterites who have not gotten covid in jeopardy, waiting for a vaccine.
That’s what they did.
No more excuses.
No “Excuse me’s.”
No “it’s a big job,” excuse.
Fix it.
Now.
Pronto.
Tomorrow.
And anyone out there who does not wear a mask or observe social distancing, you need to do it. Hospital management of vaccinations has doomed you if you get it. They won’t be able to handle the cases at the present infection rate.
The vaccine is not going to reach you the uninoculated public in time.
The drugs to give you when you get Covid, there may not be enough in supply to save you.
That’s Question 11– how is the supply of the medications to treat covid look? How do we get them if cases surge;
Can we?
Will we?
Thank God for a Governor who calls out incompetence when he sees it while there is still time, brother.
GOVERNOR CUOMO DEMANDS FASTER Vaccinating Hospital Workers. Latimer Will “Help” Westchester County Medical Center on Vaccine Distribution, If Asked. White Plains New Cases Up Sharply in Week,(12%) Mayor Roach Says, Wear Masks and Socially Distance. Beware of Scams.
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WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. January 5, 2021:
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in remarks Monday expressed concern that New York hospitals are not administerng vaccines to their staffs fast enough.
“This is a management issue of the hospitals. They have to move the vaccine. They have to move the vaccine faster,” Cuomo said.
The governor said the city Health + Hospitals corporation distributed just 31% of the vaccine doses it was given. He said Nassau University Medical Center, gave out just 19% of its doses, Westchester Medical Center, 32%.
“I am impatient. that it has been three weeks and the vaccines haven’t been administered. I’m impatient,”
Westchester County Executive George Latimer at 6:15 PM issued this statement on the situation at Westchester County Medical Center:
“I take my responsibilities as County Executive very seriously and I welcome any additional responsibility if it helps us effectively distribute the vaccines to our residents.
“The County Government does not have ‘authority’ over the Westchester Medical Center (WMC); it is ably run by Michael Israel and the Board of Directors of WMC. It is a private hospital (WMC was once part of County government over 20 years ago), with its own leadership team and structure.
“However, if the State is giving us the task now, as of today, to work with the Medical Center to help get the best possible results, then I am confident our partnership will help. We have spoken with leadership at WMC and are prepared to move forward vigorously and make sure the supply of vaccines are administered.”
Mayor Tom Roach of White Plains in his weekly coronavirus update telephone call Monday night: confirmed White Plains was experiencing more new cases of coronavirus:
The data continues to confirm new COVID cases in Westchester County and in White Plains. There are 9,389 active cases countywide. There are currently 570 active cases in our City up from 517 a week ago. (Editor’s Note: a 12% increase in number of new cases)
We have seen an average of 46 new cases per day over the last week.
Many people are asking when they will get the vaccine. The priorities for distribution are set by the state. Further information is available at covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov.
While the vaccination process is underway, everyone should continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash their hands frequently, and avoid social gatherings.
At White Plains Hospital the number of COVID patients continues to hold steady. The Hospital is still performing elective procedures and encourages all community members to go to the hospital if they are in need of emergency care. They are in the process of vaccinating their employees to protect them from COVID-19.
Vaccines are being distributed based on strict guidance from the Department of Health and are not available to the public yet.
White Plains Hospital has created a COVID vaccine page on its website, wphospital.org, that provides helpful and trustworthy information, including a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Unfortunately, we are starting to hear about scams related to the vaccine. It is important to remember that you can’t pay to put your name on a list to get the vaccine; You can’t pay to get early access to the vaccine; and Nobody legitimate will call you about the vaccine and ask for your Social Security, bank account, or credit card number. These are all scams. As we receive information from the state on vaccine distribution we will provide it to you. “
En Espanol:
La información recibida confirma nuevos casos de COVID tanto en el condado de Westchester como en White Plains. Hay 9.389 casos activos en todo el condado y 570 casos activos en nuestra ciudad, en comparación a los 517 de hace una semana. Hemos visto un promedio de 46 casos nuevos por día durante la última semana. Mucha gente se pregunta cuando les tocara la vacuna. Las prioridades de distribución las determina el estado. Para más información visite covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov. Mientras se lleva a cabo el proceso de vacunación, todos deben seguir usando una mascarilla, practicar el distanciamiento social, lavarse las manos con frecuencia y evitar las reuniones sociales.
En el hospital de White Plains, el número de pacientes con COVID se mantiene estable. El Hospital todavía está realizando procedimientos de rutina y anima a todos los miembros de la comunidad a ir al hospital si necesitan atención de urgencia. El hospital está en proceso de vacunar a sus empleados para protegerlos de COVID-19. Las vacunas se están distribuyendo siguiendo las estrictas pautas del Departamento de Salud y aún no están disponibles para el público. White Plains Hospital ha creado una página con información sobre la vacuna contra el COVID en su sitio web: wphospital.org, que brinda información útil y confiable, incluida una lista de preguntas frecuentes.
Desafortunadamente, hay gente que está tratando de estafar a otros aprovechando de esta situación. Por favor recuerde que no hay que pagar para poner su nombre en una lista para recibir la vacuna. Tampoco se puede pagar para ponerse la vacuna antes que otros y nadie lo va a llamar para pedir su número de seguro social, cuenta bancaria o tarjeta de crédito. Todas estas son formas de estafas. Le proporcionaremos más información en cuanto a las vacunas a medida que la recibamos del estado.
El reciclaje de papel se reanuda este miércoles 6 de enero. Ese día, si es necesario, puede usar su tarro de basura en caso de que tenga mucho papel. Mantenga la tapa abierta para que el departamento de sanitación pueda ver que tiene papel y por favor no mezcle papel y basura en el mismo tarro.
Nuestra próxima llamada será el lunes 11 de enero. Hasta entonces y recuerde que estamos más juntos al mantenernos más separados
THOMAS SLATER CENTER STARTS DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING FUND DRIVE
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WESTCHESTER SPREADING CORONAVIRUS POSITIVE PERSONS AT RATE OF 768 NEW CASES A DAY OVER LAST 7 DAYS.
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WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. January 3, 2020:
Sunday’s New York State Covid Tracker reports Westchester County testest 8,333 persons Saturday, the 2nd, and 591 persons were found to test positive, maintaining infection rate of positives at 7.1% compared to the Friday 7.9%.
In seven days since December 27 , 5,381 Westchesterites have tested positive, a rate of 768 New cases a day.
The Republican 11: What Effects Will the Refusal to Approve Electoral Results Have on Certification of the Electoral Vote? None.
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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2020. News and Comment By Stephen Rolandi January 4, 2021:
Editor’s Note: This weekend 11 Republican Senators announced they would not vote to certify the results of the Electoral College count unless certain state electoral results were recounted. WPCNR asked Stephen Rolandi to comment on what effects this action will have on as the U.S. Senate meets in Washington. Mr. Rolandi’s analysis follows:
Congress passed in 1887 The Electoral Count Act (see US Code Title 3, Chapter 1) which establishes procedures for the counting of the Electoral College votes by Congress following a Presidential election.
This is the last step in the process before a new President/V.P. takes office on January 20th.
The current Vice President (Mike Pence) along with Speaker Pelosi preside over the January 6th joint meeting of House and Senate.
VP Pence has little discretion in this meeting, and a Federal judge threw out a lawsuit brought by Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas to give Pence authority to unilaterally overturn the election results.
In the joint meeting, members of the House may “object’ to a state’s electoral votes. If one Senator agrees with the objection, the both houses adjourn to separately debate and vote on the objection.
Previous objections were raised in 2001 and 2017, but no Senators joined in the objection.
Hypothetically, if enough House and Senate members voted to sustain an objection, a given state’s electoral votes could be disqualified; if enough states were disqualified, then no candidate would have an electoral majority, thus forcing a contingent election by Congress. The last time this occurred for a Presidential election was in 1825.
It looks as if about 120 House members and 12 Senators will object to one or more state’s electoral votes, but that will not be enough (majority required) to disqualify any states.
The meeting on January 6th will be lively, no doubt. Biden and Harris will be certified as the winners by Congress.
In my view, this is nothing more than a ploy to keep the Trump base happy and is the opening salvo in the race for the 2024 GOP Presidential nomination.
Stephen Rolandi analyzed the Presidential Election for WPCNR predicting a Joseph Biden victory. Mr. Rolandi’s views of the Georgia Primary runoff Monday published earlier today are solely his own opinions and do not reflect the views of his employers, Pace University and City University of New York.
WESTCHESTER NEW COVID CASES HIT 1,000 POSITIVES A DAY PACE OF FIRST WAVE. INFECTION RATE: 7.9%–1,013 COUNTY PERSONS TEST POSITIVE ON JAN 1. Highest Total since April 9, 2020
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WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. January 2, 2020 UPDATED JANUARY 3, 12 NOON EST:
Westchester County daily new positive infections numbered 1,013 on New Year’s Day.
This figure approaches the 1,100 positive cases of April 9 within 200 cases of the highest level of infections reached March 25, 2020 of the horrifying sweep of the first surge of the disease.
The hightest number of positive covid cases in Westchester County all of 2020 was 1,300 on March 25 2020 just after New York State shut down.
With the positives going up inexorably the month of December, and the evidence of higher infections within the possible infection period, with the New Years week of gatherings across the county still not over, the infections may continue at this higher rate for another two weeks.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, speaking on Meet the Press said today January 3: “Rather than sit back and throw up our hands and say, ‘oh my goodness, it’s getting worse,’ we need to double down on some of the fundamental things that we talk about all the time — the uniform wearing of masks, the physical distancing and the avoiding of congregate settings and crowds, particularly indoors”
The total number of active cases in Westchester County as of Friday is 9,208, with 870 of those new cases new according to the Westchester County Dashboard today. It should be noted that those cases are not necessarily those that were discovered to be infected yesterday.
FOLLOW-UP TO THE GEORGIA JANUARY 5 RUNOFF: HOW PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN CAN GET BILLS PASSED EVEN IF REPUBLICANS RETAIN 51-49 MAJORITY.
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WPCNR GEORGIA RUNOFF REPORTER. By Stephen Rolandi January 2, 2020:
(Editor’s Note: Following Mr. Rolandi’s analysis of the Georgia runoff primary, this morning I asked him how President Biden can possibly work with a 51-49 Republican majority in the next congress. Mr. Rolandi replies:)
“While it would be a lot easier for President-elect Biden to have an outright majority in the Senate to get nominations, bills, etc. approved, he will still be able to get parts of his agenda passed.
I say this as he has a long standing personal relationship with Senator Leader Mitch McConnell – Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972, McConnell in 1984.
Also, there is now a working group of moderate Senators from both parties — Romney (R-Utah); Collins (R-Maine); Murkowski (R-Alaska); Manchin (D-West Va.); Mark Kelly (D-AZ); and others (about 12 in all) who will be able to get bills passed.
It will be harder for Biden, but not impossible.”
Stephen Rolandi analyzed the Presidential Election for WPCNR predicting a Joseph Biden victory. Mr. Rolandi’s views of the Georgia Primary runoff Monday published earlier today are solely his own opinions and do not reflect the views of his employers, Pace University and City University of New York.
Retired Doctors Could Help in Covid Vaccinations: Feiner
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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. By Paul Feiner Greenburgh Town Supervsor. January 2, 2021:
SUGGESTION–NYS SHOULD OFFER RETIRED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS WHO ASSIST IN ADMINISTERING COVID VACCINES THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET EARLIER VACCINATIONS FOR THEM AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES would help NYS vaccinate more people quickly
New York Should Vaccinate Retired Medical Professionals Who Volunteer to Assist in Administering Covid Vaccines
News reports that New York State has administered less than one-third of the Covid vaccines provided to the State by the Federal government.
The program for the procurement, distribution, prioritization, and delivery of a Covid-19 vaccine, including the logistics of how the doses will be stored and administered, is complex. This is run by each State.
To help alleviate the roadblock in New York, I suggest vaccinating recently retired doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians and their immediate families who volunteer to assist in the State-run vaccine program. They would be able to then vaccinate other New Yorkers under the State’s program, and perhaps also free up doctors, nurses and EMTs from those duties. Britain has instituted enlisting the assistance of recently retired medical professionals, and I think the Governor should consider implementing that in New York. I will reach out to state officials with this suggestion.
Paul Feiner
Town Supervisor
Town of Greenburgh
Local Analyst Who Predicted Biden Win and the Chances of Republicans Overturning the Results, Analyzes the Georgia Senate Seat Runoff
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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2021 By Stephen Rolandi January 2, 2020:
Stephen Rolandi analyzed the Presidential Election for WPCNR predicting a Joseph Biden victory. Mr. Rolandi’s views of the Georgia Primary runoff Monday are solely his own opinions and do not reflect the views of his employers, Pace University and City University of New York.
Georgia will hold run-off elections on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 to determine not only who will represent Georgia in the next session of the United States Senate – but also which party will control the Senate. The run-off elections are required as no candidate secured the required 50% majority in November. The candidates are:
- REGULAR 6 YEAR TERM:
David Perdue* (R) Jon Ossoff (D)
- SPECIAL 2 YEAR TERM:
Kelly Loeffler** (R) Raphael Warnock (D)
Here’s how I see these races:
- For many years, Georgia was a very reliable “red” state. Since 2012, the Republican party’s statewide margins have been declining – Mitt Romney received 53% of Georgia’s vote in 2012; Donald Trump 51% in 2016; and Joe Biden (D) narrowly defeated Trump by 12,000 votes (49.5% to 49.2%);
- Similarly, in the Governor’s races, the GOP margins have been declining – the GOP won nearly 53% in 2014; Brian Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams by 55,000 votes in 2018 (50.2% to 48.8%);
- Turnout has been steadily rising statewide – 2.6 million in the 2014 Governor’s race; 4.1 million in the 2016 Presidential race; about the same in 2018; and 5 million in 2020 (Presidential);
- I expect turnout to exceed the 5 million; indeed, as of December 31st, over 3 million early votes have already been cast; approximately 79,000 new voters – mostly African- American – registered to vote since November 3rd.
- President Trump’s largely baseless claims about a fraudulent election in Georgia have undermined GOP efforts there.
- If a “stand alone” stimulus bill is not passed by Congress, this is likely to hurt the GOP, although Perdue and Loeffler have come out for the bill.
– 2-
So, here’s my call:
– WARNOCK (D) wins 51.5%; Loeffler 48.5%
– PERDUE (R) wins 50.3% to Ossoff’s 49.7%
Perdue will run well in Northern Georgia to offset Ossoff’s strength in the metro Atlanta area. Some see Sen. Perdue as more moderate than Trump. Warnick should benefit from a heavy African-American vote. I expect a re-count, particularly in the Perdue-Ossoff race.
GOP will retain its majority in the Senate (51-49). Mitch McConnell remains as Majority Leader. Charles Schumer remains as Minority Leader , both for 2021-23.
Stephen R. Rolandi, MPA