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Letters, Jan. 27-29: All hands on deck needed to fix vaccination rollout mess

All hands on deck

What a vaccination rollout mess.

If you have registered to receive your COVID vaccination, don’t hold your breath to be contacted soon to get your vaccination.



Here we are in one of the nation’s COVID hotspots, with people from all over the country and world escaping the pandemic in their area to come ski and visit our town.

The data says Summit County has a population of around 42,000. The Summit County Health Department says they are doing only 400 vaccinations a week, because that is all the doses they have.



They also say, at that rate, they are booked out for vaccinations the next three weeks before they can take more appointments.

At this rate, it will be two years before everyone can get vaccinated. This is not anywhere near acceptable.

The county blames the state. The state blames the feds. It seems a total mess of logistics coordination starting from the top.

I guess all we can do is make it known to every official this is not acceptable.

That this is priority No. 1 and all hands on deck at every level is necessary to get the vaccinations out and in the arms of as many people as fast as possible.

Steve Shapard

Park Meadows

*****

Thank you, Hammerin’ Hank

Dear Mr. Henry Aaron,

I know you suffered a lot during your career but I want to take this moment to thank you. As a young boy born into the segregated Jim Crow South, I want to thank you for your inspiration, your grace and your quiet leadership. I know it was not easy. There were threats to your life and to your family and horrible things shouted from the stands as you approached that magic number: 715!

I was 13 years old in April of 1974 and could not have been more excited. My obsession with baseball began when the Braves came to Atlanta and grew as you approached that seemingly unbelievable milestone. I watched you seem to glide across the outfield and make a putout look easy. I watched as you continued to flick that strong wrist to launch balls over the fence. I watched as you ignored those who were hoping you would not reach the Babe’s record. And I watched as you silently just kept working.

I want you to know there were a lot of us kids that were rooting for you. While you were from Mobile, Alabama, and imported with the rest of the Braves from Milwaukee, to us you were an Atlantan. So we rooted for you as one of our own. I can tell you that all of my friends thought of you as a hero.

I remember the last time I saw you hit a home run in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. You had long since retired but agreed to play in an “old-timers” exhibition game. I was working in the press box and we were all so excited to see you back on the field.

You came to the place and the crowd when wild. They gave you a great pitch, you flicked that wrist, let go of the bat and we all jumped up and cheered as that ball magically went over the fence. Hammerin’ Hank indeed!

So thank you for being part of my journey out of racism. Thank you for instilling a love of the greatest game — baseball. Thank you for introducing me to my obsession — the Atlanta Braves. Thank you for being an inspiration. Most of all — thank you for being my hero.

Ari Ioannides

Park City

*****

A revealing ride

Since the pandemic started a year ago, bus ridership in Park City has gone way down. Park City Transit has installed plexiglass barriers between the bus driver and the rest of the bus and passengers may exit and enter only via the rear door. And of course, masks are required. I’m glad Park City Transit has taken these safety precautions to help keep the bus driver, who spends extensive time in a confined space, as safe as possible. But what about everyone else on the bus?

Today was my fist time riding the bus in nearly a year. Since I receive daily text alerts that parking at Park City Mountain Village is full, taking the bus for the short ride to the Canyons Village seemed like the way to go. I got on at Kimball Junction and noticed that every passenger wore a mask covering their mouth and nose, and with low ridership, everyone was able to spread out in the bus. Things were looking promising. Unfortunately, the return ride was quite different. When the bus pulled into the Canyons transit center and opened its doors, a group of about five men emerged, all of them with their masks on their chin. Two teenagers, who both had their gaiters below their chin, boarded the bus behind me. I asked them to please pull their gaiters up and made my way past a woman with her mask below her nose to find a spot as far away from other passengers as possible. During the ride I notice that the teenagers still had their gaiters down, were eating and talking loudly on their cellphone.

Passengers on the bus are dependent on each other’s behavior to stay safe. It baffles me that there are visitors and locals who choose to walk right past the “masks required” sign and ignore the Summit County mask mandate. It’s generally fairly easy to avoid these people, but on a bus it isn’t. So I won’t be riding the bus again anytime soon.

Riki Case

Jeremy Ranch

*****

The most important job

Ski patrol does a great job keeping us safe, arguably the most important job at any ski resort. 95% of skiers would ski without ski instructors. 95% of us would ski without the resort’s food service. Only a few people would ski without a qualified ski patrol.

Stuart Goldner

Park City

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