Multi-phase plan has three stages

An announcement of the opportunity for community members to receive vaccination against COVID-19 is coming, hoped for by summer 2021 but possibly later. More study is currently needed before the COVID-19 vaccine

See ROLLOUT, Page 9 ROLLOUT

FROM PAGE 1

can be given to children younger than 16, per a link on the Chippewa County health website.

That said, if you’re a parent with “reasons of health, religion, or personal conviction” against your child receiving otherwise standard public school immunizations, then pursuant to Wisconsin state statute 252.04 (3) and pending the completion of a form by you stating as much, your child cannot be forced to receive otherwise standard vaccinations to attend the public school system. For reasons of public health and greater societal freedom from serious disease threats, however, public vaccination is nonetheless encouraged by health officials. Which brings us to the still unfolding rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. What’s the plan there? Now being disseminated via the internet in a bid to counter potential misinformation (also available on the internet), the state and county health departments of Wisconsin are seeking to educate their residents as to the behind-the-scenes details and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine, while high call volumes are affecting their ability to talk in person, at least as intimated from Clark County at the health department site. That said, these are the key facts regarding rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine:

• It involves receiving two shots. The first helps your body recognize the virus, the second strengthens the immune response, per the Chippewa County site at https://covid19-chipcogis. hub.arcgis.com/pages/covid-19-vaccines.

• The vaccines’ rollout will happen in phases. Now in Phase 1A with health care workers and long-term care facility staff and residents, the vaccine rollout will move to phase 1B and essential workers. Essential Workers” has yet to be defined per advisement at the Chippewa County Coronavirus Response site, but may include those in “public health & safety, transportation, communications, financial, food & agriculture, information technology & other critical infrastructure services.”

From Essential Workers the rollout will move to Phase 1C for residents 65 years old and older, along with Individuals with underlying health conditions, hopefully complete by spring 2021. From there the vaccine distribution will enter its final two phases, Phase 2 and Phase 3, in which critical populations and general populations will be offered the vaccine against COVID-19. Once again, more studies are needed to recommend vaccination for children under age 16.

• Having already caught COVID-19 is not a reason to skip getting vaccinated. The virus can be contracted more than once, and with variants being identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa among other places,

• Many different vaccines are being developed, with those by Pfizer and Moderna now being distributed. Contrary to some fears, the vaccine cannot give one COVID-19. This is because no vaccines currently authorized for use or else in current development in the United States will use the live virus. At the same time, caution shouldn’t be thrown to the wind once the needle goes in. Because a vaccine works by exposing one’s body to a weakened version of something to allow the body to develop its own antibodies, there is a ‘lag time’ between getting the shot and gaining immunity, or freedom from disease burden. Don’t take that mask off just because you got the shot.

• Perhaps most importantly, it is safe. Although allergic reactions have been known to happen in certain cases with the vaccine and temporary side effects similar to flu-like symptoms may occur, these should go away “within a few days.”

Even if you have an underlying health condition, it’s important to be vaccinated, or even more so. Those with heart disease, lung disease, diabetes and obesity are more likely to get severely sick from COVID-19, and should be vaccinated.

With rollout in progress and more information to come, the above is your 411 update on the COVID-19 rollout.

In closing and with regard to the sheer amount of information sources online (some good, others bad), we revisit that famous quote attributed to Lincoln: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet”—Abraham Lincoln. If we need to explain just why “Abraham Lincoln” referencing “the internet” is somewhat sketchy, then maybe it’s time to go back to school or read a history book. With the vaccine rollout still in process, it wouldn’t hurt to grab a mask.

Help fight COVID! In a video put out the The Telegraph channel on Youtube and posted to the Chippewa County COVID website at https://covid19-chipcogis.hub.arcgis.com, a computer simulation shows the power of a sneeze in a corridor.