Safety protocols ignored at COVID vaccination site

Dear Editor:

Through the pandemic, there have been three unrelentingly clear guidelines for avoiding COVID-19: the wearing of masks, the washing of hands and social distancing.

A recent announcement by the Ulster County Office for the Aging notified seniors with certain conditions that vaccination appointments were open. My husband, a cancer patient, received an appointment for Feb. 25.

When we arrived at the vaccination site an astonishing sight greeted us: There was a line of perhaps 50 people. But it wasn’t the number of people that was an issue, it was the total lack of social distancing. There were even a few cluster groups, three or four people, standing together and chatting. Not one precaution was in place, and there were no 6-foot distance markings.

My initial reaction was to get out of Dodge fast, but my husband, who’d had chemotherapy two days earlier and had taken two new oral medications the previous two days, was determined to get his vaccination. There was no stopping him.

Nearly 90 minutes later, he was back in the car, telling me that he sat in four different rooms prior to his vaccination and two more rooms afterward, all where social distancing was unenforced.

A Feb. 25 Freeman article (“Dutchess’ coronavirus numbers drop; Ulster caseload holds steady as 400 seniors are vaccinated at Office for the Aging”) stated that Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan “was on hand for a while to watch the process in action.” Did he not see the blatant disregard for a primary safety rule?

Second-shot vaccinations will take place in two weeks. The location must be brought up to current standards by then. Myrna O’Sullivan

Accord