Inoculating U.S. will be heavy lift
I wish the media would employ someone to apply math principles where appropriate to provide clarity to readers.
For instance, to inoculate the U.S. population in six months is an eighth-grade problem. The answer: 330 million (U.S. population) x 2 doses = 660 million doses. How many vaccines must be administered daily, assuming five days per week, to achieve that goal in six months? 660 million doses/6 months = 110 million doses per month/4.33 (weeks in a month) = 25.4 million doses per week/5 days per week = 5 million doses per day.
Last month (December), 2.1 million doses were administered in 18 days (116,666 doses daily). At that rate, it will take 5,657 days (more than 15 1/2 years) even if doses are administered seven days per week.
Tennesseans will require: 6.7 million people x 2 doses = 13.4 million/6 months/4.33 weeks per month/ 5 days per week = 104,000 daily. Assuming a technician could deliver one dose every 10 minutes for eight hours per day, it would take 2,166 full-time people to deliver them.
Please focus on the number of daily doses being delivered.
Dave Hammel
Resident grateful for Chattanooga Public Works employee's help
Thanks to the Chattanooga Public Works employee who removed the tree/brush from my yard on Meadowbrook Lane on Dec. 31.
You went beyond the call of duty by taking the extra time and effort to rake up the last bit of debris left and disposing of it.
That is a job well done.
George Thomas
First vaccine dose may be all needed
Public health experts are advising people (with exceptions for high-risk health care workers and people over 70) to hold off getting a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines until a larger percentage of the population has received their first.
The pandemic is more out of control than ever. Our public health objective must be to immediately reduce the rate of transmission. If not, our health care system will become overwhelmed and more people will die unnecessarily.
We have a shortage of vaccine and need most people to obtain the first injection as soon as possible.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccine studies found over 75% of people become immune to the virus after a single dose, with protection starting about 10 days later (with immunity for at least several months).
The trials included a second dose a month after the first in order to show the products had over 90% effectiveness to qualify for emergency FDA approval. However, if persons develop antibodies after the first dose, there is no need for a second.
We also need more people trained to give injections and more locations to provide vaccinations to the public.
Matthew Hine, M.D.
SCOTUS decision = loss of confidence
In regard to the recent SCOTUS decision in the Texas presidential election action (in which the state's action was negated due to lack of standing under the Constitution), I was shocked and surprised and feel I am among millions of Americans confused and disappointed by the decision.
When an election is the subject of such gross malfeasance, fraud, negligence and carelessness as was 2020's, the American people are led to lose confidence in the constitutional principles on which our nation is founded. I would appeal to the higher instincts of SCOTUS in constitutional interpretation and its better judgment in the contest. In my opinion, the Supreme Court reached a terrible and erroneous decision that undermines our confidence in the democratic system our founders crafted, and negates integrity in the election process. For this reason, the Supreme Court is implored to re-examine its decisions and come to terms with the gross failure it displayed in reaching a decision. To cast a blind eye at the travesty of injustice reflected is the same as "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" when it comes to achieving justice for the American people.
Bob Jack
Harrison Tennessee
Split Congress not best option
To the ranter who said history shows that America functions best with a split Congress. I too once believed this. Our founders, in their infinite wisdom, set it up that way, and it has worked well in the past. However, since the time of Newt Gingrich's work in greed for power, things have changed mightily. No longer is there "working across the aisle." The House passes actions for the Senate's consideration, and those bills never reach the floor of the Senate. There is no collaboration whatever. Bills are rejected, not because they lack merit, but because they come from the wrong party. This is the legacy of growing government dysfunction in the last 20 or 30 years.
It is all about who has the most power. Unless this lust for power changes to a caring about our nation, our people, I cannot see how our split Congress works as was envisioned by our founders.
Lois Whitehead
Ooltewah
ABC's of virus for Gov. Bill Lee
I read in the paper that Gov. Bill Lee bemoans learning losses in a state where COVID-19 has exacerbated its schools' already lackluster performance.
Ironically, the words of concern about our students appeared under a photo of a smiling, unmasked Lee at an October public meeting.
What Lee should do for education - at once - is A) Issue a mandate requiring the wearing of masks across the state, B) Wear a mask himself, and C) Call a news conference, roll up his sleeve and get vaccinated.
State assembly special sessions and federal funds may benefit our schools, but first and foremost we must control the pandemic that's raging in Tennessee.
Wipe that smile off your face with a mask, governor. Get serious about the basics of combating the coronavirus. It's easy as ABC.
Carolyn Mitchell
Omnibus spending bill unconscionable
The spending bill passed recently is absolutely unconscionable. Omnibus spending is government at its worst. Do the members of Congress not realize this is our tax dollars being sent all over the world for "pet" causes of certain politicians? These proceedings are completed with backroom agreements. The common American has no idea how this formulates into a 5,600-page rotten swill.
Are more Americans not enraged? We, the American people, really need to come together to rise up against this. There are Americans struggling with rent, mortgages, bills, even food on the table. There are small business owners who are shuttering their doors forever. Who is being held responsible? We need to know the sponsors of each line item and their "pet" causes. Every American should demand whose big idea each of these items in this pork-swill is. We need to know, whether Democrat or Republican, the sponsors of each line item. We, the American people, then need to respond with our vote and reject these career politicians. Unless we vote them out, this pattern of spending the American tax dollar for frivolous causes will continue unabated.
Randy Young
Ooltewah