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OBSERVATIONS
January 21, 2021 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
Let those who need the coronavirus
shot most get it before the rest of us
I wish the State of North Carolina had delayed vaccinating those of us between 65 and 75 years of age until everyone older had gotten their shot to get a shot.
And now I read that the Johnston County Association of Educators wants teachers to get vaccinated before they return to face-to-face learning February 1.
I concur, since most of us are protecting ourselves without the vaccine by social distancing, wearing a mask when we're out and about, and washing our hands much more often than we used to do.
Teachers in classrooms with students will be exposing themselves at higher risk to COVID-19, although studies have shown the youngest of our children aren't the most likely spreaders of the virus to adults. The greater threat, apparently, is "staff to staff" --- teachers unknowingly infecting one another.
Johnston County administrators have said they'll strive to accommodate teachers who choose to teach remotely rather than risk classroom exposure. But that may not accommodate them all if an insufficient number of teachers are willing to return week after next to instruct the number of students whose parents choose back-to-schooling over virtual learning at home.
I'm also a bit leery of the current set-up of drive-thru vaccination clinics open to just about everyone --- first-come, first-served. Although those clinics have gotten rave reviews for the way they've been conducted, I wonder if it's getting vaccine into the arms of those who need it most.
All that will become moot if the state can receive and distribute far more doses than we've seen so far. In time, that will come. For now, many of us need to be patient.
THANK-YOU NOTE FROM A READER
"Thank you"
for a job well done last week during the COVID-19
vaccination program administered by the Johnston
County Sheriff's Department and the Johnston
County Public Health Department (at West Johnston
High School).
Not only was it
conducted in a timely manner, but every one of you
showed the upmost professional pride with
magnificent caring and respect for each and every
person who were served.
You carried
off this huge endeavor by showing what you are all
about, and it couldn’t have been carried off any
smoother. All of you are really an asset to our
wonderful Johnston County.
--- MARGO ALLSBROOK, Smithfield
Had to share this portrait of respect shown by our new President and Vice President and their spouses as they paid tribute to the 400,000-plus Americans whose lives have been taken by the coronavirus pandemic. The scene on the National Mall in Washington took place on the eve of Wednesday's inauguration ceremonies. Mr. Biden pointed out that more of our countrymen have died from COVID-19 than U.S. military losses in World War II. I think the same could be said of Johnston County, which has lost 144 souls to the pandemic as of Wednesday.
(Photo published online by The New York Times Morning Briefing)
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