Are you "essential" or "non-essential" ?
Coronavirus News
On March 12th, Dr. Mary McIntyre, Chief Medical Officer, Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) said on WSFA TV, that "we've done a plus, we call it 1C Plus" referring to adding seniors age 55 to 64 to the Alabama vaccine eligibility list. There's no reference to a "1C Plus" in the "Alabama COVID‐19 Vaccination Allocation Plan," however, they did make a nice graphic on the ADPH website that says "PLUS". When other states have added a "+" to a phase name, it typically has meant being a priority group. However, this age group, which is a higher risk group, is just being herded in with 2 million plus people at the same time. This group should have been a priority group as they are at much higher risk of severe illness or death than many of the "other essential workers" - which Alabama now calls "critical workers." Dr. McIntyre referred to them as "essential workers" during the interview.
Governor Kay Ivey has stated that it was a mistake last year for her to designate some businesses as "essential" and others as "non-essential". Many national large box stores fell into the "essential" group while many smaller Alabama based businesses did not. How is it any different to call employees of select businesses "essential" and give them priority over the employees of other Alabama businesses? She is essentially allowing the "essential" versus "non-essential" to continue. Sorry Governor, changing the word from "essential" to "critical" didn't hide what you are allowing to happen.
"The BRIEFING ROOM" includes opinion of the AlabamaFreePress.com