Wednesday December 9, 2020
Yesterday 90 year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person to receive the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to prevent Covid under the British approval system. The CDC panel meets Thursday to determine the path in the U.S. With the limited supply we need to make some tough decisions, moral decisions.
Should the first here be the old patient or the health care provider who reaches out to more than one patient? Jose Romero, chair of the CDC’s Immunization panel states that health care providers should be first and by that he means not just the doctors and nurses but the many black and brown persons who change the diapers, clean up the soiled sheets, and provide the hands-on care that the patients receive.
Under a New Jersey proposal I would be in tier 2 as a person over a certain age. I’d rather the ER kid (like my Kellie) or that housekeeping aide who’s got to change the sheets get it first. She’s (and you can bet it is a she) far more likely to contract this illness than I am.
Prayer for the Day
Discernment is what we need, O Lord, to guide us through this time
As we consider who is first in line for the promised vaccine;
Let not those who care for us be left out in the cold,
The housekeepers, the home health aides, the ER workers.
Help us to make the right decisions for our community
As we search for ways to be true to your Gospel.
In the name of him who teaches us how to discern,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand.
- Charles Spurgeon, English Particular Baptist preacher (1832-1894)
Concepts or triage and medical rationing are a barometer of how those in power value human life.
- Sheri Fink, NY Times correspondent, Pulitzer prize for Ebola reporting
I am your servant; give me understanding so that I may know your decrees.
It is time for the Lord to act, for your law has been broken.
Truly I love your commandments more than gold, more than fine gold.
Truly may I direct my steps by all your precepts; I hate every false way.
- Psalm 119: 125-128