The first dose of the coronavirus vaccine was administered in New York Monday, but the pandemic still is wreaking havoc in Onondaga County.
“In the first wave of this pandemic, you could reference ‘I know somebody who had covid or I’ve heard of somebody who had covid,’” said County Executive Ryan McMahon. “Now you can say you know somebody who died of covid or somebody’s family member who died of covid.”
McMahon said 20 people have died of the virus since Friday. The county’s infection rate is now 6.9%. Health Commissioner Dr. Indu Gupta said health precautions remain vital in the time before large scale vaccination.
“If you’re wearing face covering and following physical distancing and staying home when sick or not having get-togethers, you literally can save at least one person’s life maybe. It may not be immediately you, but that’s something. You may have seen a third person, second person.”
In an effort to curb spread, the county will expand its coronavirus investigation team, which notifies people they’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive. McMahon said the team will increase to 225 investigators in order to more quickly contact people. That is not the county’s only undertaking at the moment. They’re also starting to plan for distributing the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Indu Gupta said the county’s involvement will be later on, but there is a good foundation.
“The good part of all this is that logistically that so much infrastructure that is built because of testing that we can roll it out and build on it essentially,” said Gupta.
The county still needs to figure out who will be able to give shots and the best way to communicate the vaccine’s safety. County officials are expecting their first doses of the vaccine to arrive early this week. McMahon acknowledged that all of this work will be expensive. However, he said if there is something to use reserves for, this is it.
