Did LDS leaders get the vaccine because of preferential treatment?

[IHAQ]

I'm still not sure how the leaders were "privileged" when the priority system specified people >70, and they're >70. If they were 25 and got the vaccine back in December, then you might have a point. But you're complaining about some >90 year olds getting the vaccine after vaccines were made available to... >90 year olds.

I thought it was pretty clear. The question isn't about why some of the Apostles got the vaccine along with everyone else in their age group in the same priority order. It's how did such a large number of them get "selected" all at the same time, all at the start, when other religious leaders and other 90 year olds didn't? I'm just suggesting the Church or the Utah Health Authority should come clean about how and why that happened.

Had you read the opening post you'd have seen the question, and reasoning behind the question, articulated very clearly.

As I read an article about how all the top LDS leaders, as well as most of their spouses, were able to get their first COVID vaccine on Jan. 19, I wondered if divine intervention somehow played a role in them all being able to successfully navigate their county’s first come, first served vaccine sign-up website.
Sure, they are over 70 and are currently eligible for the shot, but the same holds true for thousands of other seniors across the state who have been vocal about their own difficulties in getting an appointment slot through the county health department websites.
I don’t seem to recall clergy being listed as essential workers, but maybe I missed it. Were elderly Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist or Protestant leaders also put at the front of the line for the shots, or is this just another example of how the Utah government plays favorites with their locally dominant church by not adhering to the concept of separation of church and state?

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/ ... s-leaders/

Supposed to be first-come first-served, but clearly they've circumvented that system and been given preferential treatment. "How?" and "Why?" should be simple questions for the Church or the Health Authority to answer...

[Lem]

I guess the idea of a handful of people in the current phase age group being given the vaccine that is used as a public relations event where the recipients are revered as nearly infallible by over half the population of the State is not exactly freakout material in my mind. It is, you know, a stupid deadly pandemic that's going on or something.

Privilege presented as a public relations event. Yes, I agree, the LDS way. But not all religious leaders would agree, thankfully.

While CDC recommendations have specified that front-line workers, many of whom are minorities, should be prioritized in the vaccination process, some religious leaders believe this doesn’t go far enough.

Because Black and brown communities have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus, they should get the vaccine first — regardless of their occupation or age or whether or not they have preexisting conditions, says the Rev. Myra Brown, a Black woman who leads Spiritus Christi, an Independent Catholic Church in Rochester, New York.

“If you’re a person of color, this virus has told us you are at risk,” she says. “If I was getting the vaccines in a particular area I’d vaccinate people of color regardless of what the guidelines say.”

At the very least, health officials should not let privileged people cut to the front of the line, says Bishop Bickerton, pointing to the politicians who have been vaccinated ahead of the population they serve.

He intends to follow in the footsteps of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has said he won’t get the vaccine until it’s available for Black, Hispanic, and economically underprivileged Americans in his age group.

“I continue to be very concerned about a distribution model that is not effective and especially for Black and brown communities who live in marginalized communities and don’t get quick access,” says Bishop Bickerton. “It’s time to relook at the distribution model.”

https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/ ... -palestine

[cinepro]

Supposed to be first-come first-served, but clearly they've circumvented that system and been given preferential treatment. "How?" and "Why?" should be simple questions for the Church or the Health Authority to answer...

Just so I'm clear, what are your thoughts on this quote:

Clergy have an important role to play in messaging and communication about the vaccine and getting people access to it. “Focusing on trusted messengers such as religious leaders have been a part of every national public health strategy,” says Mimi Kiser, senior program director of the Interfaith Health Program and an assistant professor at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta.

https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19 ... vaccinated

Obviously, discussing things about the LDS church can get a little charged, so let's take a step back. What are your thoughts on this article?

Pastors rolled up their sleeves in Roxbury (near Boston) on Friday to help build trust in the vaccine within their communities.

Pastors Miniard Culpepper and Gerald Bell doled out congratulatory fist bumps after getting their COVID vaccinations at the Whittier Street Health Center.

“I really want the community to know that this vaccine is going to save lives and it just might be one of their lives that the vaccine might save,” Rev. Miniard Culpepper who serves Pleasant Hill Baptist Church said.

The pastors are trying to set an example for people in communities of color that have been hit hard by the virus and may be reluctant to get vaccinated.

http://www.wshc.org/news-item/this-vacc ... accinated/

And in Arizona...

About a dozen faith leaders attended. A couple did not get the vaccine at the event because they had previously, while one deferred because she does not meet the current county requirements and instead brought a leader from her church who does.

Some people are concerned about COVID-19 vaccines due to their fast-paced development, but experts say they aren't worried. The vaccine safety data looks good, ingredients in the vaccines are commonly found in other medications or food and long-term vaccine side effects are rare.

Prior to Thomas' brief speech and vaccination, Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ took to the podium and called it her "privilege" to administer the vaccinations to the handful of religious leaders who were eligible.

Christ said people are "likely to look to those they know and trust" for guidance as to whether and when they should get the vaccine, and that religious leaders play a key role in encouraging the faithful to get the shot when they're eligible.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/lo ... 375097001/

So, keeping in mind that all the LDS leaders were in the risk-groups that are supposed to get vaccines in Utah, can you see a public health reason for them to publicly get their shots early in the process? Do you disagree with Dr. Christ's claim that "religious leaders play a key role in encouraging the faithful to get the shot when they're eligible"?

[IHAQ]

Just so I'm clear, what are your thoughts on this quote:

Clergy have an important role to play in messaging and communication about the vaccine and getting people access to it. “Focusing on trusted messengers such as religious leaders have been a part of every national public health strategy,” says Mimi Kiser, senior program director of the Interfaith Health Program and an assistant professor at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta.

https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19 ... vaccinated

My thoughts are, that if the clergy in Utah have been prioritised because it is perceived by the Health Authority that doing so will help sway the public into having the vaccination, then the Health Authority should come out and say that. Clergy should be included in the list alongside the other key workers who were to get the vaccination in advance of the main public roll out. The Health Authority haven't said that's what happened. The Church hasn't said that's what happened. There isn't evidence that the clergy of any other religious faith in Utah have received the vaccination in advance of the public rollout program.

If you want to argue that clergy should be prioritised for the reasons given above on WebMD, fine. Show that all clergy were prioritised in Utah as a specific strategy for promoting the idea of vaccinations.

[honorentheos]

Since the challenge is more than logistics but also buy in to ensure enough people get the vaccine for it to be effective in controlling the pandemic, I don't really care if key people whose participation encourages others to follow their lead are prioritized. As long as it was tied to a public announcement and encouragement of those who respect their role as leaders, it's ethical value is high enough to me to feel it outweighs the concerns of privilege and how church people "ought" to act.

I don't feel an emotional response toward the LDS church one way or the other, either. So I guess it's just another example of influencing and marketing being used to influence public behavior in my mind. Is there cause for being cynical about that? Oh yeah. I guess my jadedness encompasses a lot of things, though, and for once this is a case where a clear greater good is actually possible to find if one is looking at the pandemic as the civilizational threat while the other is just civilization being what it is.

[Lem]

As long as it was tied to a public announcement and encouragement of those who respect their role as leaders, it's ethical value is high enough to me to feel it outweighs the concerns of privilege...

Wow. I wonder how the Utah residents, a majority of which are non-LDS, feel about giving that privilege to LDS leaders. The word 'ethical' does NOT come to mind.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Looking at the reports of long queues in Utah of 70 year olds waiting for a vaccination, it’s very clear the Church Leaders were all afforded a priority over other 70 year olds.

The vaccines were given at the Intermountain Medical Center. I imagine the Kroger Board of Directors got the first crack at the Kroger toilet paper during the big runs. The older Brethren were merely exercising the well known Prima Nocta business rights of corporations.

I think you actually solved this mystery. They hooked themselves up because they own the infrastructure that could secure the vaccines.

- Doc

[IHAQ]

The Utah Gov webpage that clarifies who is eligible for a vaccination does NOT identify clergy as a key category.
https://coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution/

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

The Utah Gov webpage that clarifies who is eligible for a vaccination does NOT identify clergy as a key category.
https://coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution/

Utahns 70 years and older

People 70 and older can receive the vaccine starting Monday, January 18. Contact your local health department to schedule an appointment or to find out when vaccination clinics will be held. You must schedule your appointment ahead of time. Do not just show up without an appointment, as each local health department may have a different process for registration. Please understand we have limited vaccines and that appointments will fill up quickly. It may take a few tries to get an appointment. Click here for more details.

They got the stick on the 19th, no? Again, I get the setting the example thing because half their base is whackadoodle bananas, but don’t tell me they didn’t push others over to get that jab. Was Christ a ‘me first’ kind of guy? I forget.

- Doc

[IHAQ]

The Utah Gov webpage that clarifies who is eligible for a vaccination does NOT identify clergy as a key category.
https://coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution/

Utahns 70 years and older

People 70 and older can receive the vaccine starting Monday, January 18. Contact your local health department to schedule an appointment or to find out when vaccination clinics will be held. You must schedule your appointment ahead of time. Do not just show up without an appointment, as each local health department may have a different process for registration. Please understand we have limited vaccines and that appointments will fill up quickly. It may take a few tries to get an appointment. Click here for more details.

They got the stick on the 19th, no? Again, I get the setting the example thing because half their base is whackadoodle bananas, but don’t tell me they didn’t push others over to get that jab. Was Christ a ‘me first’ kind of guy? I forget.

- Doc

What needs to be accounted for is how so many Apostles, and their wives all got "lucky" at the same time at the start of a "first-come first-served" program for the over 70's. I think we are inevitably heading towards that which you mention above - they own the vaccination giver and have used that influence to circumvent the system.