HOMEWORK FOR BEACON HILL’S COVID EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Please tweet all of these articles at Massachusetts lawmakers.

Well what do ya know!?! Nearly a year into the pandemic, Massachusetts legislators are going to take a hard look at how (insert modifier that’s commensurate with your experience) the state is handling things. As the State House News Service reported:

“The Legislature’s new COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management Committee will host a hearing on Feb. 25 to hear testimony from the executive branch about how it has been distributing vaccine doses and its plans for the future. … Testimony on Thursday will be by invitation-only for members of the Baker administration as well as chairs of the Legislature’s Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion, Health Care Financing, and Public Health committees. At least one future hearing will be open to public testimony, lawmakers said.”

We hope that in their grand inquiry, lawmakers will put some time aside to impugn any number of no-bid contracts and other issues we’ve covered that most five o’clock news crews can’t be bothered to report on. In order to give them a little push, we listed some of the standouts below.

PANDEMIC PAYDAY: CONNECTED MA CONSULTANTS SECURE LARGE COVID ED CONTRACTS

Baker crony and former BPD commish among recipients of no-bid contracts.

By Dan Atkinson

INSIDE THE NO-BID CONTRACTS MASS IS ABOUT TO ENTER FOR COVID SALIVA TESTING

“We are still only a fraction of what Gov. Baker projected where the state should be testing per day per week, we need to be ramping up significantly.”

By Dan Atkinson

SINCE MASK DONATION, KRAFTS HAVE SOLD MORE THAN $7M OF PPE TO MA

The Krafts spent $2 million on the masks, and have sold $7.2 million worth of face shields to the state.

By Dan Atkinson

AID VS. ADS: OFFICIALS SPEND BIG ON MARKETING MASS RESTAURANTS

Some say “efforts are no substitute for direct assistance.”

By Dan Atkinson

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH MASSACHUSETTS POLITICS AND VACCINATIONS?

By Zack Huffman

THIS MONTH IN COURT ACTION FROM ZOOM HEARINGS TO COVID DENIERS

“The emergency orders do not unconstitutionally burden the plaintiffs’ right to free assembly because reducing the dangers of COVID-19 is a significant government interest.”

By Zack Huffman

THE STATE’S MAP OF VACCINATION SITES IS MISSING SEVERAL LOCATIONS. HERE’S WHY.

Fragmented Massachusetts system makes for confusion and uncertainty and impedes access

By Polina Whitehouse

WHERE IS THE CONTRACT FOR MASSACHUSETTS’ VACCINE APPOINTMENT SOFTWARE?

Even as the state enters multiple no-bid contracts, the PrepMod procurement was especially opaque

By Polina Whitehouse

WHY ARE HALF OF MASS CORRECTION OFFICERS REFUSING THE COVID VACCINE?

By Jean Trounstine

Even as the pandemic rages in prisons, vaccines and masks are seen as “a sign of weakness”

https://digboston.com/why-are-half-of-mass-correction-officers-refusing-the-covid-vaccine/

NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING RESIDENTS STRUGGLE TO GET VACCINATIONS

By Tibisay Zea

COVID SURGES IN MASS PRISONS, STILL NO PLAN TO DECARCERATE

By Jean Trounstine

“The remedy is not working. Jail populations are actually higher now than the second week of April.”

HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS IN A COVID-19 LONG-TERM CARE CRISIS

“Nursing homes that were given a clean bill of health and scored as satisfactory or exemplary in quality, staffing, and safety audits prior to the pandemic roundly failed in the face of crisis—a crisis that infectious disease scientists have predicted for years.”

By Nicole Aschoff