That was a pretty ballsy move for Gov. Polis to insist the federal government deliver 10,000 ventilators to Colorado hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients in critical care, and then he blasted the feds for actually procuring devices.
The sheer number of his request was absurd — there were only 9,500 of the machines collecting dust in the nation’s stockpile warehouses to be distributed nationwide, and Polis thought Colorado should get all of them, and more?
When Polis wrote to Vice President Pence on Thursday with the outrageous request, he didn’t mention how many ventilators Colorado already has — because hospitals won’t even say — or how many patients are expected to require this last-ditch effort for survival.
Even though so many patients put on ventilators are dying, or will die if they’re taken off the machine, Polis is behaving as if the medical devices are the panacea to COVID-19 treatment when numerous reports suggest otherwise.
Just 24 hours after sending the letter to Pence pleading for the federal government to deliver the 10,000 ventilators, Gov. Hissy Fit went on CNN with willing propagandist Don Lemon to cry that he had “a lead” on a manufacturer who was offering the devices at a good price, only to find out FEMA had already purchased the inventory.
“Either be in or out,” Polis said. Either the feds are buying them and providing to the states, and “letting us know what we’re going to get and when we’re going to get them or stay out and let us buy them.”
That’s a far cry from what Polis told the vice president the previous day.
“I am asking that you increase the ventilators and PPE that is being sent to Colorado for this critical moment, to help us safely cross the bridge ahead of us until we can start to reap the benefits of our other unprecedented procurement and manufacturing efforts,” the governor wrote.
Considering New York requested 15,000 ventilators and is the hot spot of the crisis with nearly 131,000 cases compared to Colorado’s nearly 5,200 cases, it looks like Polis was merely grandstanding with his order for 10,000, knowing full well such a request could not be filled.
Colorado most assuredly is dealing with a frightening health crisis, but let’s not forget this is a pandemic. We are hardly at the front of the line with the greatest need. And for that, we should really be thankful, not acting like a spoiled child who didn’t get to buy what he wanted.