FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE B5
BY LOLA FADULU
As the Washington region pre-
pares for initial distribution of a
coronavirus vaccine, federal of fi-
cials are sticking with their deci-
sion to allocate doses based on a
jurisdiction’s population instead
of its workforce — a choice that
has major consequences for the
nation’s capital.
Around 75 percent of the Dis-
trict’s 85,000 health-care workers
commute in from Maryland and
Virginia, according to city offi-
cials. As a r esult, the Distri ct ex-
pects to receive just 6,825 doses of
the vaccine in its first shipment,
and officials are uncertain when
additional shipments will arrive.
The Di strict, like states across
the country, p lans to follow guide-
lines from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and use its
first vaccines to inoculate front-
line health-care workers and resi-
dents of skilled-nursing facilities.
“Residents from outside the
District of Columbia who come
into the Distri ct for work will be
reflected in the allocations of the
states in which they reside,” a
spo kesperson for the Department
of Health and Human Services
said in an email.
Experts say it will be challeng-
ing to track down and vaccinate
D.C. health-care workers in their
home states, rather than their
places of employment.
“How would they necessarily
know who are the workers who are
in the emergency room, who work
in the ICU, who work in an operat-
ing room, [who] might be doing
jobs where they’re more likely to
be very highly exposed?,” asked
Lynn Goldman, the dean of
George Washington University’s
Milken Institute of Public Health,
referring to Virginia and Mary-
land officials.
C harlie Gischlar, a spokesman
for the Maryland Department of
Health, said health-care workers
who live in the state but workelsewhere would have to wait until
the vaccine was available at local
health departments and pharma-
cies if they don’t get vaccin ated at
their workplaces. “This will be a
closed point of distribution based
on essential medical personnel
that work in a specific facility,” he
said of the first phase of vaccina-
tions.
Virginia Department of Health
spokeswoman Erin Beard said lo-
cal health agencies and medical
systems are trying to develop a
plan for health-care personnel
who work outside the state.
D.C. of ficials first voiced con-
cern to the federal government
about the allocation formula in
October. Initially, federal officials
showed “appreciation” for the re-
quest and the points made by city
officials, D.C. Health Director
LaQuandra Nesbitt said Thursday.
But as time progressed, Nesbitt
said, “we were being told that...
[accommodating] the request we
were making would not be fair,
and they also stated that it would
not be equitable.”
“I’ve studied equity for quite a
long time, and equity is givingpeople what they need,” Nesbitt
said dryly. “Equality is giving ev-
erybody the same thing.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser
(D) sent a letter last week to Oper-
ation Warp Speed, the name the
Trump administration gave its
vaccine-development effort, ask-
ing for more doses for health-care
workers. Federal of ficials have ac-
knowledged receipt of the letter
but have yet to formally respond, a
Bowser spokeswoman said.
The Di strict of Columbia Hospi-
tal Association, which represents
the city’s 14 hospitals, also sent a
letter to federal of ficials about the
issue. And the Metropolitan
Washington Council of Govern-
ments, an umbrella group repre-
senting the entire region, is work-
ing on a s tatement calling for a
federal distribution formula
based on where health-care work-
ers are employed.
Changing the allocation formu-
la would “enhance the safety of
our entire region’s health care
workers and the patients they
serve,” Executive Director Chuck
Bean said in a statement.
George Washington UniversityHospital officials said they are en-
couraging workers who are not
D.C. residents to receive the vac-
cine wherever it is most conven-
ient for them, whether that is at
the hospital or in their home state.
“We are tracking, of course, who
has had a v accine, regardless of
where that was because obviously
we do not want to duplicate vacci-
nations,” said Bruno Petinaux, the
hospital’s chief medical officer. “If
somebody has been vaccinated in
another jurisdiction, they just
need to tell us about it and we’ll
take them off our roster.”
Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.)
fought for a provision in the bipar-
tisan $908 covid-19 relief bill that
would direct the government “to
take into account geographical ar-
eas with high percentages of cross
jurisdictional workers,” according
to a framework summary of the
bill circulated this week.
“ We’ve got to make sure our
health care workers who are on
the front lines get access to this
pot entially life-saving vaccine,”
Warner said in a statement.
While Pfizer could receive an
emergency use authorization forits vaccine by the end of this week,
that doesn’t mean providers will
immediately begin vaccinations.
A CDC advisory group will have
to finalize its recommendations
for priority groups, Nesbitt said
Thursday. And vaccinators will
have to be trained on how to prop-
erly handle and give the shots.
When the vaccine arrives in the
District, it will go first to six sites
that have the proper storage ca-
pacit y. Those sites are MedStar
Washington Hospital Center,
Howard University Hospital,
George Washington University
Hospital, Children’s National Hos-
pital, Kaiser Permanente, and
MedStar Georgetown University
Hospital.
Each site will receive one box
containing 975 doses — except
MedStar Washington Hospital
Center, which will receive two of
those boxes.
Those sites will then partner
with other health-care and front-
line providers across the city, such
as other hospitals and the D.C. fire
department, to further distribute
the vaccine.
[email protected]THE DISTRICT
Officials argue they won’t receive enough vaccine for health-care workers
The federal distribution
formula for the city
doesn’t count commutersBY SARAH PULLIAM BAILEY
Jerry Falwell Jr. has dropped a
defamation lawsuit he had filed
in October against Liberty Uni-
versity, just months after he re-
signed in August as president of
the Christian school following a
series of personal scandals, Fal-
well and a university spokesman
confirmed on Wednesday.
In his lawsuit, Falwell alleged
that Liberty damaged his reputa-
tion because it accepted without
verifying what he called false
statements made by a man who
had an affair with Falwell’s wife
and attempted to extort them.
“I’ve decided to take a time out
from my litigation against Liber-
ty University, but I will continue
to keep all options on the table for
an appropriate resolution to the
matter,” Falwell said in a state-
ment.
In a s tatement, the school said
its leaders are pleased he has
dropped the lawsuit and is work-
ing to find someone to succeed
him.
“Falwell’s unilateral and volun-
tary dismissal was not prompted
by any payments, promises, or
other consideration from Liber-ty,” the school said in a statement.
Attorneys for Falwell on
Wednesday notified the Lynch-
burg Circuit Court that he would
not pursue his claim but did not
state a reason for withdrawal.
Falwell’s endorsement of Don-
ald Trump’s presidential cam-
paign in 2016 was seen as a
crucial moment for the candidate
who won over a high percentage
of evangelicals in his election.
Liberty has long been a center of
power for conservative Chris-
tians, and Falwell’s resignation in
August rocked the evangelical
world after a series of personal
scandals.
Before his resignation, Falwell
was suspended after posting a
photo on social media of his armaround his wife’s assistant show-
ing their zippers partially down
exposing their stomachs. The
same day Falwell resigned, a
young businessman publicly
claimed that he had had an extra-
marital affair involving both Fal-
well and his wife, Becki.
Giancarlo Granda, a former
pool attendant, alleged that he
would have sex with Becki Fal-
well while Falwell Jr. watched.
Becki Falwell acknowledged the
affair to The Washington Post,
but both she and her husband
denied that Falwell Jr. was in-
volved.
In the lawsuit, Falwell had
stated that no one from Liberty’s
board of trustees asked him
about Granda’s allegations.“By forcing Mr. Falwell’s resig-
nation from Liberty immediately
following Granda’s false and de-
famatory statements, Liberty
sent the unmistakable message to
the public that Granda’s false
statements were, in fact, true,”
the suit alleged.
The suit claimed that the
school’s actions “drastically re-
duced” Falwell’s ability to be pub-
licly involved in businesses and
charity organizations, stating
that Falwell has not been invited
to appear on television and
caused him “immense anguish.”
Falwell, a lawyer and business-
man, was admired for building
the university his father co-
founded into one of the largest
Christian univers ities in theworld. Scott Lamb, a spokesman
for the university, said Falwell has
had nothing to do with the uni-
versity since he left in August.
Falwell’s late father, the R ev.
Jerry Falwell Sr., was a prominent
leader of the religious right who
founded the university and a
church nearby led by another
son, the Rev. Jonathan Falwell.
Jerry Falwell Jr. took over the
university after his father’s death
in 2007. When he resigned in
August, he told The Washington
Post his contract entitled him to
$10.5 million in severance.
[email protected]Susan Svrluga, Michelle Boorstein
and Magda Jean-Louis contributed to
this report.VIRGINIA
Jerry Falwell Jr. drops his defamation lawsuit against Liberty University
School leaders still seek
a replacement for the
former presidentstory of the Secret Service agent
arriving at the store for matches
a few years before her death in- She didn’t witness the
lighting but said the agent re-
turned the box of matches to
her.
I never doubted her, but I
wanted to know more. My fa-
ther, Arthur Kranish, a former
wire service reporter who died
in 1999, had often repeated one
of journalism’s most famous
rules to me: “If your mother
says she loves you, check it out.”
This was usually accompanied
by what he said was the motto
of the International News Serv-
ice for which he worked: “Get it
first, but first get it right.”
A few years ago, as our family
prepared to sell my mother’s
home, I f ound among her be-
longings a large bo ok of match-
sticks. On the front, it still had a
label that said the Midnight
Sun. On the back was an in-
scription: “Best Wishes.
(Thanks!) To the Kranish’s. Jim-
my Carter 12/79.”
So, Dad, the story checked
out.
This week, thinking about the
absence of my parents at Ha-
nukkah, I wondered if there was
more evidence. I f ound the offi-
cial White House photo, show-
ing Carter reaching down to the
glass-surrounded menorah, a
long matchstick in one hand
and the distin ctive box from my
mother in the other.
That moment, Eizenstat said,
marked a turning point in Jew-
ish and American history. Ever
since, menorah ceremonies at
the White House have become
standard, and eventually the
world’s largest menorah was
erected on the Ellipse, where
dignitaries need an articulating
boom lift to reach the shamash.
“It’s the symbol of American
Jewry coming of age with this
holiday being much more pub-
lic,” Eizenstat said.
Evoking the miracle story of
Hanukkah, in which the oil of
the menorah in the Temple in
Jerusalem lasts for eight days
instead of one, Eizenstat said
that impact of the candle lit by
Carter has, in effect, “lasted a
lot longer than eight days. It
continues now.”
[email protected]
From Retropolis, a blog about the
past, rediscovered, at
washingtonpost.com/retropolisgroups with the 2006 publica-
tion of his book about the Israe-
li-Palestine conflict, provoca-
tively titled “Palestine: Peace
Not Apartheid.”
Jonathan Alter, the author of
the recently published biogra-
phy “His Very Best: Jimmy Cart-
er, A Life,” said the former presi-
dent has long been misunder-
stood about his relationship
with Jews.
“The menorah story, like
Carter’s establishment of the
Holocaust Museum, is a way of
correcting the erroneous im-
pression that Jimmy Carter was
not a g ood president for the
Jews,” Alter said. “And, of
course, the most important part
of correcting that erroneous im-
pression is a proper apprecia-
tion of his virtuoso performance
at Camp David, which after four
wars between them ended hos-
tilities between Egypt and Isra-
el, and in the last 47 years there
hasn’t been a shot fired in an-
ger.”
My mother had told me thePark Service land,” Carter, now
96, said in a statement to The
Washington Post this week. “I
hoped this would help elevate
this Jewish holiday into one all
Americans would recognize, and
I am grateful this annual event
has grown much larger over
time.”Some Jews distrusted Carter
because of his support for Pales-
tinians, despite his work negoti-
ating peace between Israel and
Egypt in the Camp David ac-
cords. He received the 2002 No-
bel Peace Prize for his interna-
tional work, including the ac-
cords. He also angered JewishGod and, in that spirit, have
confidence that the future will
bring us a better life with God
and one another.”
He stood before what he
called the “glass cage” surround-
ing the menorah and prepared
to light the shamash candle,
which in turn is used to lightone candle for each of the eight
nights of Hanukkah. Carte r
opened the box of my mother’s
matches, took one out and lit
the shamash.
“I felt it was important for
our country to practice its com-
mitment to religious pluralism
by lighting the menorah on U.S.Christian who was pursuing re-
election, the moment was also
about politics. Shortly before
the menorah ceremony, he met
with Hasidic rabbis from New
York.
“They have about one hun-
dred thousand voters in the city
plus another one hundred thou-
sand throughout the country,”
Carter wrote later that day in
his diary. “We’ve a good chance
to get their support.” (It didn’t
work; his support among Jews
dropped from 71 percent in 1976
to 45 percent in 1980).
Eizenstat and Secret Service
agents accompanied Carter
across the street. There had
been little notice, and only a few
dozen people had gathered, Ei-
zenstat said.
Carter delivered a speech
about Hanukkah, tying the de-
sires of the Jewish people to be
free to his wish that the 50 hos-
tages held in Tehran be freed.
He was gr ateful, he said, “to be
partaking in a season when hu-
man beings are drawn closer toes from a display case, and the
agent hustled back to Lafaye tte
Square.
In this small way, as I learned
much later, my mother, Allye
Kranish, played a part in a re-
vealing moment in our nation’s
histo ry.
There were Christmas parties
at the White House, but not Ha-
nukkah parties. There was a Na-
tional Christmas Tree, but not a
National Menorah.
Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, a
Jewish Chabad leader, asked the
National Park Service for a p er-
mit to put a large menorah in
Lafaye tte Square, but the permit
was denied on grounds that it
violated the separation of
church and state. The rabbi
complained to Stuart Eizenstat,
a Jew who served as Ca rter’s do-
mestic adviser. Eizenstat
promptly called Interior Secre-
tary Cecil Andrus, who had re-
jected the permit.
Eizenstat, in an interview, re-
called what he told Andrus, who
died in 2017.
“Wait a minute, Cecil. You
know, for like 100 years the Park
Service has issued permits for
the National Christmas Tree at
the back of the White House on
the Ellipse, also public property.
What’s the difference?”
“Well, the Christmas tree is a
secular symbol, not a religious
symbol,” Andrus responded, ac-
cording to Eizenstat.
“Give me a break,” Eize nstat
said he responded. “You’ve got
two choices, if you don’t make
the right one of them, the presi-
dent is going to get in the press,
and you’re not going to look
good.”
Eizenstat said Andrus, faced
with the decision of whether to
reject permits for both the
Christmas tree and the meno-
rah, chose to issue them both.
The tradition was thus born for
a National Menorah.
So it was, on the fourth night
of Hanukkah, that preparations
were made for a s ilver menorah
to be lit in Lafaye tte Square. Ei-
zenstat found Carter in his tux-
edo that night, preparing to at-
tend a state dinner with British
Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher. He asked the presi-
dent to go across the street and
light the menorah. The presi-
dent agreed and put on a coat
over his tuxedo.
For Ca rter, a born-again
RETROPOLIS FROM B1
RETROPOLIS
In 1979, Carter helped start a H anukkah tradition in D.C.
MICHAEL KRANISH
The back of a box of Swedish eight-inch-long matches President Jimmy Carter signed for Allye Kranish, who supplied them when he lit a
Hanukkah menorah on Dec. 17, 1979. Kranish — the author’s mother — owned a S candinavian design store a block from the White House.“I hoped this would help elevate this Jewish
holiday into one all Americans would recognize,
and I am grateful this annual event has grown
much larger over time.”
President Jimmy Carter, 96, in a statement to The Washington Post this week