Laurels & lances: Shots, lockdown and cops
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Laurel: To first steps. The fight against the coronavirus pandemic took a giant leap forward this week. UPMC began administering the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to health care workers.
Five of the hospital system’s employees took the shot Monday in a livestreamed event, much like those held around the U.S.
This isn’t the end of covid-19. It’s barely the start of vaccinations.
Other area hospitals are scheduled to begin distribution. Approval of the Moderna vaccine will expand that.
Health officials say it could still be months before the public at large will be able to take the shot. But with infection numbers and deaths rising across the state and around the country, a solution has to start somewhere.
Lance: To flouting the law. Those rising numbers prompted Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to reinstitute tighter restrictions to slow down the spread of covid-19. That included once again stopping indoor dining and holding indoor gatherings to 10 or less, asking businesses to operate at half capacity and shuttering theaters and casinos.
There has been a range of response to that — particularly among the restaurants and bars that have been so hard hit by the pandemic and its lockdowns. Most are following the orders, closing their dining rooms and preparing for takeout if they can. Others, however, blatantly have said no.
The Crack’d Egg in Brentwood is among them. It has posted pictures on social media of maskless customers filling the dining room, thanking supporters. Among those photographed were two Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies, in uniform. Those officers have been reassigned and quarantined, and should face harsher discipline. Law enforcement officers must respect orders of the commonwealth. That’s why it’s called “law and order.”
What’s happened to restaurants and bars, along with so many others in the hospitality industry, is tragic. They are innocent victims of this horrible pandemic. They require immediate financial aid, provided by the federal government, to make them whole while they are shut down for vital reasons of public health.
Laurel: To giving a hand. Then there are the officers who are more than the letter of the law. They are the spirit.
Westmoreland County sheriff’s Deputy William Lane was one of the guys in uniform who took kids to the store as part of the annual holiday Shop with a Cop program.
“This is by far my favorite day of the year,” he said as he took 5-year-old Brantley Brooks of Scottdale through the toy department at the East Huntingdon Walmart.
The presents might seem like the best part, but the real gift is showing kids that cops care.