Amazing news! President Biden estimates within 60-90 days we should have capacity to give at least the first shot of the vaccine to everyone who wants it in the U.S. (Source: PBS News Hour)
Businesses are encouraged to get involved in several ways:
- Compensate for employee time to get the vaccine. For example, Aldi and Dollar General will pay employees for up to 4 hours of work, which impacts local stores
- Post smiling photos (with consent!) to congratulate employees who get the vaccine
- Contact your local health department if you can provide space to host a vaccine clinic. You can host now for at-risk individuals, or start planning now to vaccinate your own employees during phase 2 (general population)
- Continue to encourage mask-wearing in public until we reach 70% immunity (could be this summer!)
- Businesses with 50+ employees can now purchase COVID-19 rapid tests, previously limited to 250+ employees. Rapid testing is critical to identifying people who don’t have symptoms
Other Great News: By the Numbers
The U.S. is now vaccinating 1.5 million people per day for COVID-19. During a normal flu season, 3 million people per day receive a flu shot (Source: White House Advisor Slavitt to New York Times). This means we already have the ability! We can do this!
People who already had COVID-19 may only need one booster shot, not two! This impacts nearly 30 million Americans (Source: Business Insider).
VaccineFinder.org is now focusing all its resources on updating COVID-19 locations. In Ohio, they are using this data from the Ohio Department of Health.
The one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be FDA-approved this weekend! It is only 66% effective compared to the 95% two-shot vaccines, but has no specific safety concerns (Source: MarketWatch). The single shot and lack of allergic reactions may make this the vaccine of choice for some skeptical citizens.
The End Could Be in Sight, Friends!
Let’s honor our beloved dead by masking a little longer. 60-90 days for a first shot… add 30-60 days for a booster shot for full immunity… that’s four months. By July?
Can we pledge each other to make healthy choices for four more months?
Can we commit to getting vaccinated when its available?
Our Christian readers might remember these words of St Paul: “…let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds … for you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” (Hebrews 10:24, 35)
In this case, we are promised reduction of death and hospitalization, removal of public masking orders, and the return of large community events without spreading infection.
But we can’t have those results, we can’t save additional lives or honor the over 500,000 dead, without the endurance to make these sacrifices for just a little longer.
Ashtabula Health Info 