ISDH Chief Encourages Everyone Eligible To Get Vaccinated
April 20, 2021 at 8:53 p.m.
ISDH Chief Encourages Everyone Eligible To Get Vaccinated
By David [email protected]
The clinic is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Saturday. The two-dose Pfizer vaccine is being used for this clinic, with the second round scheduled for May 10-15.
“It is really so great to be here with you in Warsaw to kick off the mobile clinic that we’re hosting in Kosciusko County,” Hatchett began. After thanking the city and county leaders for coming together with the state teams to make the clinic possible, he said, “This clinic is one of two mobile units that we’re offering this week in conjunction with our FEMA mass vaccination site in Gary, Ind. Our goal with these clinics, along with others that the Department of Health is offering around the state, is to bring vaccine to people who really need it and communities where it’s really needed. Sometimes that can be where access is limited or where demand has really outpaced supply in the local community, so we’re really monitoring that closely and trying to respond as quickly as possible.”
Hatchett said more than 14,000 Kosciusko County residents are fully vaccinated, and almost 20,000 residents have received their first dose already.
“That’s encouraging to see, but it’s important to note that there are 60,000 residents in this county who are age 16 and older and therefore currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. So that means we are only about a quarter of the way, in terms of getting these residents in Kosciusko County vaccinated,” he said.
Statewide, vaccination rates are low among Black and Hispanic residents, he said, “which increases the risk to those Hoosiers for illness from COVID-19.
“We really want to eliminate those disparities and remove any barrier to this life-saving vaccine,” he said, adding that the vaccine has the ability to “get us out of this pandemic and back to the normalcy that we’re all so eager to get back to.”
Hatchett said the two-dose Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective at preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19. “This has been demonstrated through rigorous and unprecedented clinical trials across the country. Millions of vaccines have been administered in all kinds of communities across the country, and the adverse reactions have really been minimal by comparison.”
He said the COVID-19 vaccine is one of the “most effective tools we have” to prevent COVID-19. “And when you combine that with wearing a mask and staying home if you’re ill, keeping your distance when you can and washing your hands, it’s a proven strategy to prevent infections and the spread of this disease,” he said.
These steps are more important than ever, he said, because there’s an increase in the variants of the virus and the variants are “much more infectious” than the original virus.
The biggest increases in COVID-19 infections statewide are occurring among those in their 20s and 30s. These are also the people who are struggling the most to get vaccinated, he said. “We are seeing higher hospitalizations across the state. And even here in this part of the state, we are seeing more than a 100% increase in hospitalizations recently, so, again, it’s stressing the importance of the vaccine and how they can at least reduce the severity of the infection if not altogether prevent it,” Hatchett said.
Currently, Kosciusko County’s positivity rate is under 5%. He said they want to keep it that way, but that’s becoming more challenging as “we see the number of variants of the virus increase and people are letting their guard down.”
The science of mask wearing, he said, hasn’t changed as it’s an effective tool against illness. “And we’ve seen proof of that in our extremely low numbers of influenza cases over the past year. So we continue to encourage people to wear masks when they’re around people and can not socially distance” as well as practice the other safety measures.
In Indiana, more than 3.7 million doses of the vaccine have been administered to 1.6 million Hoosiers who are now fully vaccinated. “That’s just over 25% fully vaccinated,” Hatchett said. “We encourage you to join that group. We want everyone to come out and get the vaccine if they’re eligible, which would be 16 and over.”
If the clinic site or timing doesn’t work for someone’s schedule, Hatchett said there are over 700 other sites in the state. The sites can be found at ourshot.in.gov. The vaccinations are free.
“The only way we can put this pandemic behind us is to ensure that we are vaccinating the majority of our population and achieving herd immunity,” Hatchett said. “I know many people are still hesitant about the vaccine, and certainly the pause that was recently placed on Johnson & Johnson by the FDA and CDC haven’t helped that conversation, but I want to point out that a pause is just that: It’s temporary in nature and it really demonstrates that the safety rails and the guardrails put in place to protect Americans are working.”
The vaccine pause will allow the CDC and health officials at the federal level to evaluate the “six rare cases of adverse effects. And so what we can do from that is learn how to identify the risks and treat them, if need be,” Hatchett said.
Those cases represent less than one in 1 million people who have been vaccinated. “Those are very low odds,” he said.
“If you know someone who has been on the fence about getting the vaccine, I encourage you to speak with them and get them an appointment available,” Hatchett said, noting that walk-ups are available and the hours of the clinic are designed for “all walks of life.”
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “The advantage here, and what really is going to help us, is creating more accessibility to the shot with people that need to work and being able to schedule appointments as late as 6 p.m., as well as all day Saturday. That’s really the advantage we have with all of you here, and we’re most appreciative.”
Kosciusko Health Department Public Health Officer Dr. William Remington said he really appreciated the ISDH and federal partners that brought “this wonderful opportunity” to the community. “It is a great opportunity. I think the timing is perfect. The emerging variants, causing great havoc not too far away in Michigan, are noteworthy. Our cases ticking up a little bit. April is the month to get this done. We have a very safe and amazingly effective vaccine,” he said, imploring Kosciusko County residents to “just get it done. This is your time.”
Bowen Center CEO Kurt Carlson talked about the COVID-19 testing site the Bowen Center has at the fairgrounds. “We started out, the first day it was 130-some people, and it sprang up as high as 300 people a day we were testing,” he said.
He said the Hispanic population in Kosciusko County is about 7%. All of the staff he hired for the testing site are intentionally bilingual and bicultural to make sure the Hispanic population was comfortable in coming.
Now, 15-20% of the people coming to the test site are Spanish-speaking, Carlson said. “When the population is 7%, we are really reaching that population as aggressively as we can.”
The bilingual hotline is 574-347-4256, and the Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition hotline is 574-206-3938.
Latest News
E-Editions
The clinic is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Saturday. The two-dose Pfizer vaccine is being used for this clinic, with the second round scheduled for May 10-15.
“It is really so great to be here with you in Warsaw to kick off the mobile clinic that we’re hosting in Kosciusko County,” Hatchett began. After thanking the city and county leaders for coming together with the state teams to make the clinic possible, he said, “This clinic is one of two mobile units that we’re offering this week in conjunction with our FEMA mass vaccination site in Gary, Ind. Our goal with these clinics, along with others that the Department of Health is offering around the state, is to bring vaccine to people who really need it and communities where it’s really needed. Sometimes that can be where access is limited or where demand has really outpaced supply in the local community, so we’re really monitoring that closely and trying to respond as quickly as possible.”
Hatchett said more than 14,000 Kosciusko County residents are fully vaccinated, and almost 20,000 residents have received their first dose already.
“That’s encouraging to see, but it’s important to note that there are 60,000 residents in this county who are age 16 and older and therefore currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. So that means we are only about a quarter of the way, in terms of getting these residents in Kosciusko County vaccinated,” he said.
Statewide, vaccination rates are low among Black and Hispanic residents, he said, “which increases the risk to those Hoosiers for illness from COVID-19.
“We really want to eliminate those disparities and remove any barrier to this life-saving vaccine,” he said, adding that the vaccine has the ability to “get us out of this pandemic and back to the normalcy that we’re all so eager to get back to.”
Hatchett said the two-dose Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective at preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19. “This has been demonstrated through rigorous and unprecedented clinical trials across the country. Millions of vaccines have been administered in all kinds of communities across the country, and the adverse reactions have really been minimal by comparison.”
He said the COVID-19 vaccine is one of the “most effective tools we have” to prevent COVID-19. “And when you combine that with wearing a mask and staying home if you’re ill, keeping your distance when you can and washing your hands, it’s a proven strategy to prevent infections and the spread of this disease,” he said.
These steps are more important than ever, he said, because there’s an increase in the variants of the virus and the variants are “much more infectious” than the original virus.
The biggest increases in COVID-19 infections statewide are occurring among those in their 20s and 30s. These are also the people who are struggling the most to get vaccinated, he said. “We are seeing higher hospitalizations across the state. And even here in this part of the state, we are seeing more than a 100% increase in hospitalizations recently, so, again, it’s stressing the importance of the vaccine and how they can at least reduce the severity of the infection if not altogether prevent it,” Hatchett said.
Currently, Kosciusko County’s positivity rate is under 5%. He said they want to keep it that way, but that’s becoming more challenging as “we see the number of variants of the virus increase and people are letting their guard down.”
The science of mask wearing, he said, hasn’t changed as it’s an effective tool against illness. “And we’ve seen proof of that in our extremely low numbers of influenza cases over the past year. So we continue to encourage people to wear masks when they’re around people and can not socially distance” as well as practice the other safety measures.
In Indiana, more than 3.7 million doses of the vaccine have been administered to 1.6 million Hoosiers who are now fully vaccinated. “That’s just over 25% fully vaccinated,” Hatchett said. “We encourage you to join that group. We want everyone to come out and get the vaccine if they’re eligible, which would be 16 and over.”
If the clinic site or timing doesn’t work for someone’s schedule, Hatchett said there are over 700 other sites in the state. The sites can be found at ourshot.in.gov. The vaccinations are free.
“The only way we can put this pandemic behind us is to ensure that we are vaccinating the majority of our population and achieving herd immunity,” Hatchett said. “I know many people are still hesitant about the vaccine, and certainly the pause that was recently placed on Johnson & Johnson by the FDA and CDC haven’t helped that conversation, but I want to point out that a pause is just that: It’s temporary in nature and it really demonstrates that the safety rails and the guardrails put in place to protect Americans are working.”
The vaccine pause will allow the CDC and health officials at the federal level to evaluate the “six rare cases of adverse effects. And so what we can do from that is learn how to identify the risks and treat them, if need be,” Hatchett said.
Those cases represent less than one in 1 million people who have been vaccinated. “Those are very low odds,” he said.
“If you know someone who has been on the fence about getting the vaccine, I encourage you to speak with them and get them an appointment available,” Hatchett said, noting that walk-ups are available and the hours of the clinic are designed for “all walks of life.”
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “The advantage here, and what really is going to help us, is creating more accessibility to the shot with people that need to work and being able to schedule appointments as late as 6 p.m., as well as all day Saturday. That’s really the advantage we have with all of you here, and we’re most appreciative.”
Kosciusko Health Department Public Health Officer Dr. William Remington said he really appreciated the ISDH and federal partners that brought “this wonderful opportunity” to the community. “It is a great opportunity. I think the timing is perfect. The emerging variants, causing great havoc not too far away in Michigan, are noteworthy. Our cases ticking up a little bit. April is the month to get this done. We have a very safe and amazingly effective vaccine,” he said, imploring Kosciusko County residents to “just get it done. This is your time.”
Bowen Center CEO Kurt Carlson talked about the COVID-19 testing site the Bowen Center has at the fairgrounds. “We started out, the first day it was 130-some people, and it sprang up as high as 300 people a day we were testing,” he said.
He said the Hispanic population in Kosciusko County is about 7%. All of the staff he hired for the testing site are intentionally bilingual and bicultural to make sure the Hispanic population was comfortable in coming.
Now, 15-20% of the people coming to the test site are Spanish-speaking, Carlson said. “When the population is 7%, we are really reaching that population as aggressively as we can.”
The bilingual hotline is 574-347-4256, and the Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition hotline is 574-206-3938.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092