{"id":109093,"date":"2021-01-21T22:27:58","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T22:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=109093"},"modified":"2021-01-21T22:27:58","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T22:27:58","slug":"the-spot-the-ethics-of-vaccinating-capitol-journalists-a-tense-call-with-boebert-and-the-politics-of-food-delivery-fees-the-denver-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/the-spot-the-ethics-of-vaccinating-capitol-journalists-a-tense-call-with-boebert-and-the-politics-of-food-delivery-fees-the-denver-post\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spot: The ethics of vaccinating Capitol journalists, a tense call with Boebert and the politics of food delivery fees\u00a0 – The Denver Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

I received the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Monday and, if you’ll forgive the navel-gazing, it brought up an ethical question.<\/p>\n

The governor’s office gave specific priority to about 20 journalists who, like me, cover the Capitol. Reporting in person on the legislative session, which started last week and should pick back up Feb. 16, requires sharing indoor spaces with large groups of people — lawmakers, staff, some members of the public — and my understanding is that we were given priority, at least in part, because of those associated risks.<\/p>\n

Still, part of me felt strange — flat-out wrong, even — accepting this golden ticket when there are so many people who need a vaccine more than I do. I’m young and healthy and can cover the legislature pretty well from home if need be.<\/p>\n

Teachers can’t teach remotely when the kids are back in school. Prisoners can’t do much to protect themselves in their close quarters. What about older adults who barely leave their homes because they face such a heightened risk of death? Or other journalists — photographers, especially — who have to interact more regularly with the public than the Capitol press corps?<\/p>\n

What sense does it make for me to have been vaccinated before my 85-year-old grandfather could even schedule his?<\/p>\n

I spent some time pondering a tweet from journalist David Milstead, the former head of the Denver Press Club: “As a matter of public policy, journalists should not be vaccinated before teachers. As a matter of ethics, journalists should not be accepting vaccines set aside for them by Jared Polis.”<\/p>\n

I tend to agree. If the state of Colorado was suffering from famine instead of a virus, and the governor’s office offered steak dinners to the core Capitol reporting crew, there would be an obvious ethical problem.<\/p>\n

This one is not so cut and dry, of course: declining the vaccine wouldn’t help anyone. And there’s zero evidence that if I’d passed, the dose would have been set aside for someone who needs it more.<\/p>\n

Still, I can’t shake the icky feeling, and I know some of my colleagues in the press corps feel the same. I’m curious to know what you think, so feel free to email me at aburness@denverpost.com.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in this week’s newsletter, Justin Wingerter takes you inside a tense call between U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and some high school students, Saja Hindi writes about COVID-19 aid challenges for the legislature and Conrad Swanson looks at the politics of food delivery fees.<\/p>\n

To support the important journalism we do, you can become a Denver Post subscriber here.<\/p>\n

Questions?<\/h2>\n

Have a question about Colorado politics? Submit it here and it’ll go straight to The Denver Post politics team.<\/p>\n