Oh, how the mighty are falling

Most of the time, I'm inordinately proud of my home state of Massachusetts. I really do LIKE living in a place where the people are well-educated, where we have excellent healthcare, where we're (relatively) well off. Where we have historic and cultural significance. Where we have technology excellence. And an array of fine colleges and universities. Where we have a great July 4th celebration. And a pretty well known marathon.

Where we have ocean and mountains (admittedly, low ones); interesting cities (one, at least) and quaint and lovely towns. Where there may not be much great architecture, but where there's plenty of natural beauty. Where tourists want to come. Where our sports teams bring us great joy and continuous aggravation.

Where our representatives - our Congress people and Senators - are intelligent and knowledgeable. (I never have to wake up worrying about whether one of our reps is going to be singing the praises of Q, or whether one will be exposed as not knowing what the three branches of government are.) 

I LIKE living in a place where we really do try to take care of our poor and downtrodden. (Although I'm currently on furlough, I volunteer in a homeless shelter, where I often find myself talking with guests who are from Florida, or Georgia, or South Carolina. What brought them to Massachusetts? Why, they heard that they may be able to get help here, that we have programs for those who need it.)

Sure, half the time our weather is miserable. And we, of course, have our share of income inequality and racism. We're high on the opioid addiction scale, which is I guess our tradeoff for being low on the meth scale. Anyway, no place is perfect. But we're almost always pretty damned good.

But right about now what I feel about the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is profound embarrassment.

Not that we have to be first in everything, but when it comes to the vaccination rollout, the latest number I've heard is that we now rank 37th in terms of percent of population that's been vaccinated. And this is down from last week's 31st place.

Oh, how the mighty are falling!

And to add insult to injury, the Moderna vaccine was invented here.

What up with that?

If we're 37th, who's on first?

Why, West Virginia, which is generally a laggard when it comes to any measure to do with health and welfare. 

What is Virginia known for? John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. Mountains. Coal mining. Coal mining disasters. Grandpappy Amos on The Real McCoys. And John Denver's terrific song, "Take Me Home, Country Roads", a.k.a., "Almost Heaven, West Virginia." 

And, now, for being the leader in getting their population vaccinated.

Good for them. If they're not gloating, they should be. 

Massachusetts doesn't have to be the best in everything that's worthwhile being the best in. It's just that 37th????   W.T.A.F.????

And as The Boston Globe just reminded us, the company providing the technology that West Virginia is putting to such excellent use, such that they're at the forefront of vaccination success, is from a local company.

Massachusetts may be a world leader in digital technology, but when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations it’s being left in the dust by West Virginia.

Newly eligible residents in Massachusetts seeking COVID vaccine shots may face a bewildering trek through multiple websites littered with complex instructions. But in West Virginia, there’s just one website to visit, or one toll-free number to call.

And the technology that makes it work comes from Massachusetts.

Burlington-based Everbridge builds emergency communications systems for corporations and governments worldwide. The government of Norway uses an Everbridge system to send emergency messages to the entire population. Everbridge also runs the AlertsMA system, which sends weather alerts and COVID-19 updates to Massachusetts residents via robocalls and text messages. (Source: Boston Globe)

Everbridge. Hmmm. That sounded familiar.

Turns out that, nearly a decade ago, I'd done some writing and editing work for them. They weren't a direct client, but I did some sub work for a friend of mine. So I'm closer to Everbridge than I'll ever be to Kevin Bacon.

But talk about adding more insult to even more injury. A company in our own backyard and we decided to put our own crappy system in place?

Thanks to the efficiency of their system, West Virginia has gotten 86% of the doses they've received into arms. We're at 50%. And a lot of that has been shot into the arms of work-from-home administrative hospital employees who have zero public contact, but who work in a hospital. They're biggest exposure to COVID was coming in to get vaccinated. Swell!

Everbridge has also deployed the scheduling system in Sarasota County in Florida, where 70,000 people signed up in the first hour. [Everbridge’s head of government strategyBrian] Toolan said the system could quickly be deployed in Massachusetts or anywhere else.

I'm happy for my cousin Ellen, wintering down there in Sarasota and all that, who manage to score a vaccination. But, as Joe Biden might say, Come on, man.

In the next couple of weeks, the 65+ cohort in Our Fair Commonwealth will become eligible for vaccination. I may be pleasantly surprised, but I'm assuming it will be a colossal PITA to sign up. 

How about it, Charlie Baker? How about giving Everbridge a call?