Print article Dr. Anne Zink is wrong: the Jan. 5 rollout of the state’s vaccine appointments was not “bumpy.” It was a debacle. It was no less than an extension of the national fiasco pitting states against each other over health-care workers’ personal protective equipment. By promulgating this failure, Alaska’s so-called leaders, the ones at the very top, proved they are unfit to lead. By relegating the state’s website to an Amazon-like clearinghouse for vaccine sellers, the state fumbled the very key to beating the pandemic. Then, by building in a plausible deniability for this epic failure, the state proved it will not lead. It will only follow the bad examples that gave the U.S. the world’s worst public health record for the pandemic. We have become a beacon of light for conspiracists; as if the pandemic is not real.