One year later, easing back one shot at a time
Fairgrounds hosts second round of doses this week
It’s not that Betty Moore was some self-righteous anti-vaxer. She just never saw the need. She never got the flu vaccine and never got the flu. Why get the COVID-19 vaccination?
Then Moore — and her husband — got the virus. Still, after recovering just fine after two weeks, it took the nudging from her son and daughter-in-law to convince the 69-year-old Fairfield resident the double-dose was the right thing.
“The kids signed me up,” said Moore, 20 minutes after her first dose. “I feel great. I was one of those who thought ‘Maybe they’re pushing it (the virus) too fast.’ Then you get the truth. That’s what I tell others. Find out what’s going on, research it, and get the truth.”
Moore joined an estimated 3,500 others getting vaccinated at the Solano County Fairgrounds on Friday on the heels of 3,600 getting the shot Thursday.
A former Vallejoan, Moore said she’s “hopeful” looking at the rest of 2021.
“I always have hope,” she said. “This year, even more so.”
Her one-word description of
the last 12 months?
“Interesting,” Moore smiled. “And definitely blessed.”
The one-word summary of the dreaded 2020 was “isolating” to “Lynn” from Fairfield, waiting for her son to get vaccinated.
The worst of the Year of COVID-19, she added, “was not being around family. And I guess the best was that my family survived.”
Pondering the vaccination hierarchy, Lynn believes that teachers should have been higher priority in the vaccine line.
Dental assistant Corine Garcia of Fairfield remained working all through COVID-19, occasionally handling a patient who was adamant about wearing a face covering.
“They’d give us grief, but that’s our policy,” Garcia said. “I have met patients who changed their view after getting COVID. Unfortunately, they had to go through it to change their mind.”
Garcia said she lost her grandmother, her husband’s grandmother and her husband’s cousin to COVID-19.
“Those who have gone through it ‘get it’ more and are willing to wear and mask and social distance,” Garcia said.
Inside the hall, 160 people received vaccinations every 15 minute, according to EMS Coordinator Benjamin Gammon.
One of the volunteers — retired Benicia High School teacher Bud Donaldson — handled paperwork, recalling all the visits paramedics, police and firefighters made for his students.
“They had been so generous with their time, I wanted to give back to them,” said Donaldson.
Three weeks into helping out, he said he’ll keep on showing up as long as his arthritis doesn’t flare up.
“We’re all trying to save people’s lives and give back to the community,” Donaldson said, adding that those who receive vaccinations “are relieved and grateful.”
Donaldson said he can’t wait to spend time with his four grandchildren.
“I haven’t seen them in months,” he said. “I am grateful for being able to see family,” describing his year of the virus as “blessed.”
“My wife, Sandy, is there,”
Donaldson said. “Not everybody has a partner to get through this turmoil;
through this pandemic.”
Donaldson hopes the nation “gets some sort of herd
immunity and that we’ll have some semblance of what we remember a year ago.”
Taking a minute break from administering vaccinations, Solano County Public Health Nurse Kay Brown described her 2020 quickly.
“Lonely,” she said. Gammon has been everything but “lonely” while assisting at various major vaccination sites that include a “pop-up” at the Solano Office of Education in Fairfield.
“I’m hoping that if we keep up allocations, we should get everyone vaccinated who wants to be vaccinated by the end of July,” said Gammon.
Having Solano Country progress to the “red tier” helps toward “opening up some businesses,” said Gammon, acknowledging that life as an EMS during a pandemic changes quickly.
Gammon said he could be clutching the latest report and be told “that’s yesterday’s news.”
On the front line, Gammon got his two doses in January. And yes, the warning that the second dose could throw a connected punch was true. He felt the chills, the body aches, the fever, the headaches.
“It has the potential of having intensive immune response,” grinned Gammon, with a second-dose side effects typically hitting around 10 hours after vaccination.
And that’s all OK, he said. Symptoms usually last not more than 24 hours.
“You want your immune system to have that reaction. But don’t worry if you don’t get anything,” said Gammon, praising Kaiser Permanente, NorthBay, Medic Ambulance, Touro University and the Vallejo Fire Dept. for their role in the fairgrounds clinic.
“I feel more reward doing vaccine shots then treating a ‘911’ call,” Gammon said. “People are really happy to see this. I see the emotions … often tears of joys.”
Gammon considers the fairgrounds clinic “a party.”
“This is a concert event. You walk in, you’re getting a show and everyone leaves happy,” he said.
That includes “Larry,” looking up from his cell phone to offer his one-word description of the last 12 months. “On hold,” he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged mistakes in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but insists the recall effort against him has more to do with politics than the public health crisis.
Newsom made his most direct comments yet about the push to unseat him during an interview Friday with KQED, saying his opponents are taking aim at his his broader progressive policy agenda.
“It’s about immigration. It’s about our health care policies. It’s about our criminal justice reform. It’s about the diversity of the state. It’s about our clean air, clean water programs, meeting our environmental strategies,” he told the San Francisco news station.
Recall organizers are Republicans and say they have collected nearly 2 million signatures, well above the 1.5 million needed by March 17 to force an election. The GOP has only 24% of registered California voters, but organizers say they are attracting Democrats and independents.
The effort gained steam over the winter as coronavirus cases spiked in California,
keeping schools and businesses shuttered to the frustration of many residents. Outrage grew after Newsom was caught having dinner at the high-end French Laundry restaurant north of San Francisco, contrary to his own health advice.
Newsom said “of course” he regrets attending that dinner.
“That’s those things you can never get back. And, you know, I owned up to that. And no one hid from that. And that was a mistake. Crystal clear,” he told KQED.
The Democratic governor, who also faced criticism over the state’s slow vaccine rollout earlier this year, said there are several lessons he’s learned while leading the state’s fight against the pandemic.
He conceded that the state could have done a better job educating and communicating to the public as state restrictions changed throughout the past year.
California also should have made it a priority earlier to distribute COVID-19 vaccines in the state’s hardest-hit areas, including Black and Latino neighborhoods, Newsom said.
The governor announced in recent weeks that California would set aside 40% of all vaccines for people in the most vulnerable communities.
“In many respects, we could have gone a little earlier with this overlay, and that’s something in hindsight you consider and you reflect on at the same time,” he said.
Newsom said the biggest challenge remains vaccine supply, which he expects will increase dramatically in the next six weeks. He said the state now needs to make “door-to-door” vaccination efforts in hard-toreach communities because not everybody can navigate the online appointment system or turn out to mass inoculation sites.
Newsom said about 9,000 of the state’s roughly 11,000 schools have either reopened or have a “firm date” to reopen. He said billions of dollars in state and federal aid recently approved should help ensure that schools can offer summer programs and other supplemental learning to make up for lost time.
Asked if he’s received the vaccine yet, Newsom, 53, said he won’t get it until it’s his turn as a healthy adult under 65 years old.