COVID-19 fatigue is wearing thin on people across the state and country, and its toll on Washita County residents is real.
“Back when this first started, I was asked, “How long are we going to have to do these types of things?” Cordell city administrator JC Moser said.
The city shut its offices down and didn’t let people in the building, among other measures.
“I said, ‘This is going to be with us until we get a vaccine.’ They said, ‘That’s going to be at least December for crying out loud.’ Here we are in December, and we’re getting something rolled out, and we’re thinking maybe by summer we’’ll have most of the people vaccinated. That’s still six months away.”
The announcement late last month of the imminent deployment of more than 40,000 doses of vaccine to the state’s front-line health care workers was a boost of much-needed good news. And the state rolled out the first vaccinations this week.
What’s not known, however, is when Cordell’s first responders will get vaccines.
Under the state’s distribution plan, the immediate doses will go to hospital workers and longterm care facilities.
“Our people that are working just like all the other front-line workers, they are definitely tired of COVD-19 at this point,” Moser said. “They’ve had to go out on calls, even before it got really strong here in Washita County. They had to wear their personal protective equipment all the time, they couldn’t even take it off to get a breath. They had to make sure they were protecting themselves from anything that might be airborne. It’s taken a toll on all of the front-line workers here, and especially as the amount of cases have gone up.”
Cordell fire chief Seth Slaughterback said the city has been in contact with the state about the distribution plans.
“They do not have it figured out how the first responders are gong to receive the vaccine yet,” he said. “Whether it’s going to be put in the county health department or the local hospitals. They’re still trying to work on that.”
The initial doses will be out this week, according to the state’s initial distribution plan. Slaughterback said there’s is some skepticism among area first responders.
“They feel there’s a lot of talk about side effects,” he said.
Some think there hasn’t been enough testing done, he added.
“I do know that the department of health is trying to reassure that it is more beneficial to go ahead and have the vaccine, especially if you have already had COVID. It doesn’t hurt to up your immunity to it.”
As the city administrator, Moser urges everyone to get a vaccine.
“I honestly think that is the only way we are going to get a handle on this virus and get it stopped in our country,” he said. “I know there are a lot of people that are worried about the side effects and things like that of what can happen down the road.”
But COVID-19 is real, and there is still a lot to learn about its long-term effects, Moser said.
“We also have to worry about what can happen to our bodies, too. We don’t have any idea of the longterm effects of having a respiratory illness like this, what damage it causes our lungs, and our bodies, five, 10 years down the road. We need to do everything we can to try and stop it.”
Much like the state’s top doc and Cordell Memorial Hospital administrator Deborah Kifer said recently, that means following Centers for Disease Control guidelines: social distance, washing hands and wearing a mask.
“I think it would make a big difference if more people would wear a mask when they are out,” Moser said.