CAO Message: A Milestone, But Critical Work Ahead in Our Pandemic Fight

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

We’re witnessing history this week. A few of our colleagues, medical staff at the County Psychiatric Hospital, got COVID-19 vaccines yesterday. Additional doses the County received Monday were sent to local hospitals for their frontline workers. We hope we’ll look back on this time as a turning point in our fight against this virus that’s created so much havoc with our lives.

It is, however, just the start of a process that will take many months. The first vaccines are going to acute care health workers and the vulnerable residents of long-term care facilities. There’s a detailed plan for which groups of the population will follow, and some of that may be adjusted along the way. The County is coordinating an advisory group that is heavily engaged with the community to make sure vaccines are given out equitably. We’ve talked a lot about equity this year, and these are just the sort of life-impacting decisions we need to work very hard at.

The vaccine’s arrival is huge cause for celebration. That excitement is tempered by the dire situation we find ourselves in now with the pandemic. Local case numbers have exploded the last several weeks, as have hospitalizations. ICU capacity has dropped dangerously low, which prompted the state to issue the Regional Stay at Home Order with its renewed restrictions on businesses and gatherings. Our health care system and sectors of our economy both face breaking points. There’s pain all around.

So while a vaccine is here, it’s not here yet in a way that can turn the tide. It’s still on each one of us to take the individual steps that will make the difference. Not gathering, keeping your face covered. Staying apart from others during the holidays is awful. But every preventive action you take can mean one more break in the chain of infections. And that can result in maybe one more hospitalization avoided, and a family not worried about their loved one. A little less strain on an exhausted ICU nurse. In this season of giving, let’s all give that to each other, to our community.

You’re probably familiar now with the term “pandemic fatigue.” I know many of you are feeling it. It’s hard living this way. Let’s draw strength from the promise of the vaccine, and in the knowledge that our collective action can help us through – what we hope will be – the final stretch of this fight.

Stay safe and thanks for all you’re doing.