Vaccine Dispensed At KCH FridayThe first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines were given out Friday at Kosciusko Community Hospital. The first person to receive a dose was emergency room physician Dennis Mansfield. He said he will get his second vaccine in three weeks.
Mansfield said Kosciusko County is approaching 7,000 COVID-19 cases with 63 deaths in the county. Indiana has nearly 7,000 deaths.
Mansfield encouraged people to protect themselves and to get the vaccine.
Mansfield said, “We’ve really been peaking in this part of the state and the hospitals are very near capacity right now, both this hospital and rural hospitals.” He noted there’s not a lot of room “for things right now.”
Mansfield said the pandemic is hitting the elderly particularly hard with some getting really sick with COVID.
Last year’s flu season had about 130 deaths in Indiana, Mansfield said. “We’re almost at 7,000 deaths this year in Indiana from the coronavirus. This is not the flu. A toothpick and a spear both have a sharp end, I’d much rather get poked by the toothpick. People need to take precautions, particularly the elderly and those at high risk,” he said. He noted we don’t know the longterm effects of the coronavirus.
“It’s something that’s necessary. We need to do it as a society. It’s patriotic, it’s the only way we’re gonna get back to normal and get rid of (masks). There’s no end in sight otherwise,” Mansfield said.
