SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — In tonight's Ransom Note: where do I start after a day like this?
The Shelby County Health Department is in shambles tonight after a drip, drip, drip of developments that for a few hours today had me scared for what the next push alert on my phone might say. But the image that said it all to me, more than the bungled appointments, the wasted, stockpiled, and stolen vaccines, the potential cover-ups, the CDC and the FBI investigations, the political posturing was a document turned over to the state health department showing how a Shelby County staffer was keeping track of wasted Pfizer doses. Very important information on lot numbers, vials, and doses written down in what the state described as "chicken scratch" record-keeping. It's hard to comprehend.
This kind of scandal isn't just another case of some government corruption involving a politician taking a bribe or misusing tax dollars. This is life and death, and you can bet before this is over director Haushalter won't be the only one whose career suffers because of it.
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