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Opinion | The health department’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month | Richard Ransom

The Shelby County Health Department faces scrutiny surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine fiasco.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In Thursday’s Ransom Note: it hasn't been a very good month for the Shelby County Health Department. It's safe to say the folks who work there got their feelings hurt with all the scrutiny surrounding the vaccine fiasco. So here was the Shelby County Health Director earlier today saying it wasn't our fault. Guess who he's blaming?

“I know we have taken some uncalled for or unjustified criticism in the media,” said Shelby County Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph.

Of course, Dr. Randolph. We made up the news about the thousands of wasted vaccines, the tens of thousands of doses sitting on shelves, the stolen vaccines, children getting vaccines, and weeks of worry over whether a lot of us got expired vaccines that might be ineffective. Today we learned the investigation is mostly over and that no expired vaccines were given, leading Dr. Randolph to take a victory lap.

“I want to tell you that in my opinion, this report exonerates us and it shows that we did our job,” Dr. Randolph asserted.

Is that really what the state report shows? Maybe we should let another doctor, Dr. Lisa Piercey, who runs the state health department and issued the report do the talking.

“The bottom line is there was poor record keeping, there was a lack of standing operating procedure that could be followed consistently, and that was what was the root cause of the mismanagement,” stated Dr. Lisa Piercey, Tennessee Health Commissioner.

What she said.

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