Updating: WBEZ had named the names of judges offered vaccine at Loretto Hospital

....as several readers have pointed out, mostly in tones of outrage. Here's the link.

Here is the excerpt that names the names:

The 13 judges who were sent the email invitation from [Judge Diann] Marsalek were: William Sullivan, Susanne Groebner, Celia Gamrath, Michael Hogan, Athanasios Sianis, Krista Butler, Cara Smith, Daniel Tiernan, Lindsay Huge, Lynn Weaver Boyle, Patricia Sheahan, Clare Quish and Joe Panarese.

Here, however, is the bottom line regarding the alleged line jumping:

It’s unclear if any of them got the shots through that offer or brought others with them for vaccines at Loretto. WBEZ sent messages to all 13 judges and none of them would comment. Loretto’s CEO, Miller, said federal health privacy law prevented him from discussing specific cases.

The real news is that the City of Chicago has cut off Loretto Hospital from further supplies of City-controlled COVID-19 vaccines.

One might have thought that Loretto Hospital, at 645 S. Central, in the heart of a community hit especially hard by the COVID-19 virus, could be chastised, and publicly shamed, and thereafter more carefully monitored as it continued the vital mission of distributing vaccine in the area.

Of course, there have been further allegations about hospital management arranging to vaccinate people outside the Austin community, including members of the CEO's suburban Oak Forest church. I have received comments, some of them quite specific, that contend that nearly every Cook County judge had the opportunity to be vaccinated at Loretto, not just the 15 so far named by WBEZ. I have no idea what the City has been able to determine, but it is certainly possible that the City deemed the hospital beyond redemption.

The optics are bad for the judges. Granted. There is certainly an appearance of impropriety. Because the supplies of vaccine have been so limited, and there are so many people who so despearately want it -- and can't figure out how to get it.

But that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real problem here. None of this "excuses" the judges -- all of whom surely could have found ways to obtain vaccinations somewhere else than Loretto Hospital. But focusing on the judges takes the glare off the City of Chicago.

The City of Chicago has to take a huge amount of blame here.

Science teaches us that getting the vaccine into the arms of as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, will be the best way out of this mess. It really doesn't matter who gets vaccinated first in terms of developing true herd immunity. Only numbers count.

Common sense, empathy, and, yes, political reality, however, all demanded that we "prioritze" the vaccine rollout, especially because our initial supplies have been so limited: Vaccinating nursing home residents was the absolute first priority, since so many nursing home residents died from COVID-19. We could send people into the nursing homes with needles, and did, though not as fast as public health authorities wanted.

Communities of color were also hard hit by the disease, so it also made sense that the City would make these the next priority. But vaccines are still scarce, so the City had to limit availability, at least at the outset, to the elderly in those communities.

And that's where things went wrong.

And predictably so.

There is a well-documented inverse correlation between increasing age and decreasing computer literacy. And there is an equally well-documented digital divide or technology gap between Black and Brown communities, on the one hand, and European-descended communities on the other.

So... older people in communities of color are the least likely to be comfortable online, or even to have online access, and the City of Chicago rolls out its vaccination program for online registration only. No, you can't make a vaccination appointment when you pick up your prescriptions. No, you can't make a vaccination appointment when you see your doctor. Zocdoc is the City's preferred platform.

Is it any wonder that the City is lagging far behind the rest of the State on vaccinations?

And don't give me statistics about 'how many' have been vaccinated in Chicago as opposed to outside. Chicago is going to enter Phase 1C of the vaccination rollout on March 29, a week from today. The State says any resident 16 or older (Phase 2 of the rollout) will be able to register for vaccinations as of April 12. The City's target date for Phase 2 is currently May 31.

All public health authorities are aware that there is some... reluctance... some resistance... to vaccinations in communities of color. There are perfectly understandable historical reasons for this. So there was always going to be an element of persuasion in some areas in any large-scale vaccine rollout.

Why didn't the City partner with churches from the outset when starting large-scale distributions? Granted, the City had trouble getting some of them to close in the first place. And God forbid that some progressives miss any chance to forbid God.

But ramping up vaccine distributions through the churches would have given the churches the opportunity to resume operations, or resume full operations, and promote the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, without computers. Older people would have had a level of comfort going to their churches for vaccinations that they'd never, ever get from Zocdoc. The politicians have no difficulty asking churches for help at election time. Why couldn't they have asked for their help on this? (And there are some churches now getting involved... not just those attended by officers of Loretto Hospital. Efforts were made along these lines in Aurora, for one example. Why couldn't it have been done here, too? And much, much sooner.)

Stepping down, now, from soapbox....