Medical leaders encourage vaccinations

Vaccinating adults and teens is the way out of the novel coronavirus pandemic, said the chief of Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital.

On May 4, Lorain County medical, government, business and educational leaders met online for the weekly Community Protection Team meeting to discuss the latest developments with COVID-19.

Vaccine demand is leveling off and some people remain skeptical about getting the shots, they said.

“It’s true, the only way out of this mess truly is vaccination,” said Dr. Rebecca Starck, president of Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital.

Starck and Lorain County Public Health Commissioner Dave Covell led the discussion about the inoculations and local effects.

Demand levels

Starck said three weeks ago she was optimistic about production and distribution of the vaccine around the country.

In the last two weeks, there has been a 20 percent decline in vaccination rates, she said.

It is distressing to hear “absolutely false information” spreading on social media about negative effects of the shots, Starck said.

“The fact of the matter is, the vaccines that we have are extremely powerful,” 95 percent effective against death, intensive care and severe illness, she said.

Anyone who gets the vaccine and then gets a breakthrough case of COVID-19, the likelihood of dying is extremely low, Starck said.

“The best analogy I give is that we are fighting a forest fire,” she said. “We can’t just piddle around with this forest fire, we have to put it out.”

The more people who remain unprotected, the more likely it is that the virus will spread and mutate, Starck said.

People have rights and may assume personal risk, but eventually, those choices may affect the community at large because the novel coronavirus is powerful and can mutate, she said.

Time to get the shots

Lorain County is at the point where people who put off the shot to let others get it first, now need to get vaccinated, Covell said.

He noted the NFL Draft last week in Cleveland allowed fully vaccinated people to attend.

The Cleveland Indians are discounting ticket prices for some upcoming games for vaccinated fans, Covell said.

Business owners who want to encourage vaccination, could make offers to people for getting the shots, he said.

Medical statistics and research are showing the vaccine is really working, Covell said.

People who get the shots don’t get COVID-19.

Some cases are to be expected because with 95 percent effectiveness, 5 percent of people will get breakthrough cases, but those are mild, Covell said.

Lorain County Emergency Management Agency Director Tom Kelley told the group he had COVID-19.

“Thank God I had both shots, because the effects were greatly lessened,” Kelley said.

Not for me

Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen and Lorain County Probate Judge James Walther asked about dealing with people reluctant to get the vaccines.

Some people had family members who suffered with COVID-19, but refuse to get the shots, Walther said.

Jensen noted conditions in India, where medical workers are battling a major outbreak, and questioned if that could happen in the United States.

India’s vaccination rate was 2 percent to 3 percent when COVID-19 began spreading earlier this year, Covell said.

In Michigan, a number of people resisted vaccinations and fell victim to coronavirus variants that caused hospitalizations in Ohio’s next-door state, he said.

“As those variants hit here, people who are vaccinated are going to be protected, people who aren’t vaccinated, aren’t,” Covell said.

Food help available

Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio will hold upcoming food distributions at Lorain’s Longfellow Middle School on May 6, and Amherst’s Marion L. Steele High School on May 11, said Julie Chase-Morefield, president and CEO.

More information is available at secondharvestfoodbank.org.

Mental health help

Mental health workers are preparing for possible spikes in overdoses coming up in the next two months, said Elaine Georgas, interim executive director of the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services Board of Lorain County.

“Sadly, expected from research, this hits later,” Georgas said.

Kelley noted local first responders radio traffic has been busy with calls about possible overdoses in recent days.

May is Mental Health Month and the novel coronavirus pandemic is wearing on people, so Georgas encouraged people to get a check up from the neck up.

In the schools

Some educators who have been vaccinated have asked about continuing health precautions and when restrictions will be lifted, said Franco Gallo, superintendent of the Lorain County Educational Service Center.

When case counts go down do 50 per 100,000 people and vaccination rates top 70 percent of eligible people, restrictions could be lifted, Covell said.

It is difficult to predict down to the day and may not happen by the end of the school year, he said.

Educators should follow the guidelines as best as they can with kids, Covell said.

By the summer, the Pfizer vaccine could be approved for use in children as young as 12 years old, he said.

That bodes well for fall 2021, Covell said.

But, between now and the end of the school year, still is up in the air, he said.