LETTER: Vaccinating cops ahead of the elderly?

The story of Ron Warkmeister’s 85-year-old mother waiting for a vaccination (Jan. 24 letter) was heartbreaking and infuriating. Heartbreaking as we ask how many old people must die before our governor does the right thing? Infuriating if you read Review-Journal reporter Michael Scott Davidson’s exchange with Brian Labus, adviser to Gov. Sisolak (Tuesday). “Imagine if we had no fire or police departments,” Mr. Labus said in justification of prioritizing those groups.

Mr. Labus should be guided by the science. There are 5,819 Metro police employees and one employee under 70 has died of the virus. There are 95,000 Nevadans older than 70 and, as of Jan. 24, 2,535 have died.

Based on these facts, a person older than 70 is 157 times as likely to die if he or she gets COVID as a Metro employee under 70. In the unlikely event that even 10 percent of Metro employees succumbed, 91,000 old people would be no more if the statistics remain the same.

The chances of so many strong, fit employees dying that there is no service is so remote as to make me think Mr. Labus is ignoring the statistics and trying to frighten the public. The way to reduce deaths is to vaccinate Nevadans who are dying — and we know who they are.