Letters: Where is the FDA’s urgency?; Intentions clear with mail-in ballots proposal

Where is the FDA’s urgency?

It is amazing that the U.S. is the driving force behind the development of vaccines, both financially and by having President Trump develop Operation Warp Speed to get a vaccine in approximately nine months rather than the years that prior vaccines have taken. Now that we may have at least three viable vaccines the FDA has reverted to their normal bureaucratic, no urgency approach to approvals. Great Britain has already approved the Pfizer vaccine and hope to be giving shots within a week. What has our FDA done? With approximately 1,900-2,000 U.S. residents dying per day, they shut down for four days over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and finally scheduled a meeting to discuss this on Dec. 10. We keep hearing from our government that all of these deaths are tragic, but we allow the bureaucrats to continue to control very important (life and death) decisions at their pace. This is just part of the swamp!

Intentions clear with mail-in ballots proposal

State Rep. Jim Gregory (R-Blair County) recently announced he will introduce a bill to repeal the provisions of the state election law that permits Pennsylvania voters to request mail-in ballots without having to cite a reason for their application. This provision, adopted in 2019, made it possible for Pennsylvanians to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic without having to worry about endangering their health. Best of all, they didn’t have to seek the approval of a county official to vote in this manner.

Apparently, freshman Rep. Gregory is trying to curry favor with his elders in the Republican leadership. According to his press release, he’s only responding to the confusion of his constituents with the mail-in ballots, which caused “an extreme amount of irregularities” in the election. Of course, he has no proof of irregularities and if his voters were confused by the mail-in ballots they could have gone to the polls, turned in their blank mail ballots, and voted in person.

Perhaps, his desire to turn back time is just the same Republican tune President Trump and the Pennsylvania GOP have been singing since Election Day. Too many citizens got to vote, and Biden won Pennsylvania. Oops. They can’t let that happen again. Well, sorry Rep. Gregory. Pennsylvanians have found this new way to cast their ballots suits them just fine. Your bill’s going to be dead on arrival. We’re not going to let you get away with stealing our right to vote as we see fit.

Winners and losers in pushing false allegations

I read with interest an article (in the Washington Post) that Trump has raised $150 million since the election purportedly to support his ongoing unsubstantiated challenges to the election results. It is likely that most of that money will go to pay the lawyers involved. Therefore it is no surprise that Rudy Giuliani and others keep pushing the false accusations of fraud. They will financially benefit, while the country and democracy lose.

Serious concerns with long-term care facilities

Why are long-term care facilities experiencing a spike in positive COVID-19 test results? Something is seriously wrong. These residents have been shut off from friends and loved ones for months. The staff are screened daily before entering the facility. They should be well aware of the symptoms and smart enough to call off if they suspect they are infected or have been exposed. These facilities should be among the safest places to be. Something is seriously wrong.