252 dead

On December 30, 2020, the total number of dead in Merced County from Covid-19 reached 252 and the nation's top epidemiologists predict a sharp increase in infections in a couple of weeks, due to holiday travel and large gatherings. But, not to worry, the vaccine is being distributed by capable military personnel. Today, four-star Army General Gustave F. Perna, CEO of Operation Warp Speed, reassured the public, saying that "the cadence of our execution is taking on a really good posture." In light of the administration's promises of anything between 40 and 100 million doses of vaccine delivered to the states by the time Trump leaves office and the reported number of 14 million doses delivered and only 1.2 million actually vaccinated by year's end, it looks to us like the cadence of the execution of Operation Warp Speed is slumping -- not standing tall at all. But oldtimers like ourselves appreciate the soaring military oratory; haven't heard anything as ludicrous since "good body counts" during the Vietnam War. -- wmh