Thread by @JeffJacksonNC

I spent the morning at a vaccination event for teachers and school personnel.

It was a massive operation with lots of moving parts, but I just want to tell you about one piece of it.

In the picture, you can see Georgina filling a syringe with vaccine from the vial.

[thread]

That's her designated job at these events: fill syringes.

She's excellent at it, and her skill is absolutely crucial.

Why?

Because, given that she's done it thousands of times, she's learned how to get six or even seven doses out of a vial that officially contains only five.

I watched her work for several minutes.

Basically, she's perfected the art of getting every last drop.

It's remarkable how significant that skill is.

Every time she can get seven doses, that translates into a 40% increase in vaccine supply from that vial, right there at the final stage of the process.

Day after day, that one act is an enormous public service.

It made me think:

How few of us get to play such a pivotal role in directly helping so many people in such a profound and immediate way as Georgina does every day she shows up for work and does her level best.

To be honest, it doesn't feel like an exaggeration to say that my best hope for public service is to find a way to be as useful as she is on a daily basis.

For as often as we've acknowledged our health care workers in the last year, we likely still don't fully appreciate the resilience and ingenuity they've displayed in helping carry this nation through this ordeal.

So on behalf of all of us, and with total sincerity:

Thank you.