Alaska hospitals pushed to the breaking point in statewide health crisis
The Anchorage Daily News has not one, but two stories today saying, “Gov. Mike Dunleavy has urged more Alaskans to get vaccinated.”
It’s Dunleavy damage control, the mouthing of words for campaign purposes so he can claim to be more than a hapless bystander as Alaska’s health care system disintegrates.
Unfortunately, reporters don’t feel the urge to remind people of what he said last week or last month.
Six days ago, he wouldn’t urge: “I will continue to recommend that Alaskans speak to their healthcare providers and discuss the merits of the vaccine based on their individual healthcare needs.”
That same day Dunleavy said that President Biden should be removed from office via the 25th Amendment for a federal push to get people vaccinated.
Two weeks ago, he hedged his urge: “For those that are contemplating getting the vaccine, I urge you to get the vaccine now instead of waiting.”
Twenty days ago, he wouldn’t urge: “Folks can easily go and get a vaccine if that’s what they so choose.”
The Daily News, the Associated Press and other news organizations have fallen into this word trap on numerous occasions, declining to delve into Dunleavy’s timidity about vaccinations.
Dunleavy’s unvaccinated fanbase will turn on him if he delivers a clear message about Alaskans getting sicker by the day and filling up the hospitals because they refused the vaccination.
It was only three weeks ago that he got angry with a reporter who asked him why he wasn’t pushing people to get vaccinated. “This isn’t North Korea. You don’t dictate to people how they live their lives,” he said.
“People know what they need to do. They need to have conversations with their doctors and make a decision if that’s what they want to do,” Dunleavy said.
With Alaska hospitals facing one of the worst emergencies in our history because of opposition to the vaccine fueled by the Republican party, Dunleavy still refuses to use the state-funded publicity machine to put pressure on anyone to act.
The state-funded publicity machine at his command is instead focused on pressuring legislators on the Permanent Fund Dividend, a Dunleavy re-election ploy.
On Tuesday, Alaska’s largest hospital issued a dire warning to Alaskans that “if you are seriously injured, it is possible that there will not be a bed available at our trauma center to save your life.”
That’s what it took for Dunleavy to modify, for a limited audience, the “get the vaccine if that’s what you feel like” position.
“I urge, and I hope you guys print this, I strongly urge folks to get a vaccine, strongly urge them to do that,” he told reporters Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
It’s a limited audience because there was no press release from Dunleavy urging Alaskans to get vaccinated. He didn’t call out vaccine opponents for threatening the health and safety of every community in Alaska. He didn’t announce a press conference and reveal his new position in public to a broad audience of Alaskans. He did it with a select group of reporters who treated it as genuine.
He didn’t go on Facebook to plead with his unvaccinated supporters to get the shot. He didn’t have the people who write his statements on Twitter mention the crisis.
There is no news coverage today of why Dunleavy refused to aggressively publicize his alleged “urge.”
This failure to communicate is no accident. Dunleavy has refused to risk angering his unvaccinated supporters, contributing to the near collapse of our health care system.
On Monday, Dunleavy publicity man Dave Stieren retweeted a claim that “None of the people telling you to worry about coronavirus are actually worried about coronavirus.”
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673