Nolan Out Loud: No need for vaccine panic

The news on the COVID-19 vaccine front continues to improve. Officials in charge of getting the shots into arms, including those in Michigan, appear to have gained a sense of urgency.

Johnson & Johnson is poised to be the latest entry into the vaccine space. The company says it hopes to seek approval for emergency use of a single-shot vaccine with a longer shelf life and storable at lower temperatures.

Kalamazoo-based Pfizer is doubling its production schedule for 2021.

So this is no time to panic. President Joe Biden is suggesting he'll release all available vaccines at once to increase the inoculation rate, instead of holding in reserve the second shots that are necessary with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

That will put at risk all those who have or will get soon a first shot. If the follow-up dose isn't available when they're scheduled to get it, they'll have to to start the cycle over again and the first shots will have been wasted. See our editorial today. 

Impeachment on deadline

The House introduced articles of impeachment Monday, the first-step in a rushed effort to oust Donald Trump from the White House before his scheduled departure on Jan. 20. I'm betting they don't make the deadline. I also don't think Vice President Mike Pence will invoke the 25th Amendment and ask the cabinet to remove the president. That's not because Pence is protecting Trump. The Constitution doesn't intend the 25th Amendment as a substitute for impeachment. Its purpose is to remove a president who is physically or mentally incapacitated. Democrats want the Veep to ignore that inconvenience and invoke the amendment anyway. It's not likely to pass a legal test, even if Pence were inclined to cooperate.

Guns and politics

Michigan's Capitol Commission banned the open carry of weapons in the state Capitol. That's a good first step. The commission will continue to allow those with concealed carry permits to bring their weapons into the building. I have a deep respect for the Second Amendment, but I don't think guns and politics mix. 

ETC. 

I'm not exactly sure what a polar vortex is, but apparently it's fixing to split and hit the nation with a major winter storm on Martin Luther King Day. If there's a choice of climate threats, I'll take global warming. 

The knuckleheads who still think they can make Trump president again are planning demonstrations in all 50 state capitols. They apparently haven't heard that America has lost  patience with their version of crazy. 

Twitter: @NolanFinleyDN

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