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A dose of hope

THUMBS UP: A dose of COVID-19 vaccine may be a ways off yet for most of us, but the fact that some of the vaccine is here, delivered to New Ulm Medical center, can provide us all with something almost as beneficial — a dose of hope.

NUMC is a regional repository for the Pfizer vaccine, thanks to the super-cold freezer unit it has. The freezer was built at the hospital as part of the Heart of New Ulm project to save and preserve blood and other samples collected through the program for 10 years. HONU organizers never thought is would be used to store a vaccine against the COVID-19 virus.

Doses of the vaccine will be administered starting next week to front-line health care workers, and as more becomes available, it will be ready for the rest of us. And that should give us all hope that soon our lives will start returning back to normal. We can live on hope for a little while.

Forcing the battle

THUMBS DOWN: The state’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 virus has taken on the aspect of a pitched battle this week. It’s Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison v. the Republican legislative caucus and some rebellious bar and restaurant owners.

No sooner had Gov. Walz extended the restrictions on indoor food and liquor service than a number of bar owners in the state opened their doors in defiance of the orders. There is a large contingent of the public who feel the danger of losing their right to go out and socialize is greater than the danger of getting COVID-19 and dying. They flocked to the rebellious institutions. AG Ellison responded with liquor license suspensions and fines, leading Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka to threaten the AG’s funding in the next budget.

Can’t we all just get along? Let’s work together to get some aid out of the federal government for the hard-hit business owners, instead of this civil war in the making.

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