As the FDA approves and Operation Warp Speed distributes vaccines to each state, we need to be informed of the facts and advocate for our health and our rights. I, as a fellow senior, am asking every senior citizen who reads these thoughts to reach out to the Governor’s office (401-222-2080), and to each of our state representatives, Susan Donovan (401-253-7837) and June Speakman (401-258-1134).

I ask this because my outreach to them has revealed that the governor and the Department of Health have not yet publicly disclosed their vaccination plan for the general population 65-plus, and in a conversation with Susan Donovan she has not been briefed on the details or timing of the rollout. I have not spoken to June Speakman as of this writing.

What do we know about the broader distribution of the vaccine? Senior citizens, who are universally recognized as the most vulnerable populations facing COVID-19, have been pushed down the distribution priority list. We have fallen prey to both a CDC and governor’s philosophy that vaccines should be administered based on “equity,” not a vulnerability basis.

For additional information, visit covid.ri.gov/vaccination and click “Rhode Island Interim Draft COCID-19 Vaccine Plan.”  Political correctness is elevated over the needs of the most vulnerable, you.

Let me be perfectly clear, ALL people of Rhode Island are entitled and should receive the vaccine, but let’s follow the science, not the crowd.

I ask that each of you contact each of the elected officials listed above and ask them what the vaccination plan is and ask them to restore the most vulnerable among us to their proper place in the line. The eloquence of your message is not as critical as the importance behind it.  This could be the difference between life and death. Please, do it for yourself, do it for a loved one, do it for your community. But please, just do it.

David Scarpino
Bristol