Thread by @VanityFair

In the Trump administration’s final weeks, a scramble took place as political appointees tried to crash the ultimate VIP list: the roster of government employees who would be vaccinated for COVID-19 from a small allotment for essential workers vntyfr.com/bWKsIMW

The quest to get on the White House list—closely guarded by Mark Meadows and a small group of NSC officials—attracted a variety of would-be line-jumpers ranging from cabinet members to young White House desk jockeys, writes @katherineeban

Among this group, V.F. has learned, were chiefs of staff of cabinet agencies, some of whose bosses had become notorious for publicly disregarding pandemic safeguards like mask-wearing.

While elected officials were jostling for a spot at the top, one person stood in their way; former President Trump, who tweeted that White House employees would wait their turn unless “specifically necessary”

Like so much in the Trump administration, the vaccination process devolved into chaos. Four-star General Gustave Perna, who handled logistics for Operation Warp Speed, reportedly demanded that anyone seeking vaccinations for their departments approach him and “kiss the ring.”

Resentment brewed as vaccinations began being doled out without transparency or apparent logic. Those who had been instrumental in developing vaccines watched as federal employees working on Operation Warp Speed received their shots.

“The scientists aren’t getting vaccinated,” said a source, “but the note-takers are.”

One person who got a shot with good reason, despite his history of downplaying the pandemic, was Larry Kudlow, who’d suffered a heart attack in 2018.

Kudlow told V.F. he was “super grateful” to get the shot, adding that he regarded it “as a miracle that I didn’t get COVID” from working at the White House.

Vaccine distribution to federal workers was “was not going to be a boondoggle.” The story of how it became one reflects the larger M.O. of the Trump administration, writes @KatherineEban