Print
Share page with AddThis

2021/01/11 - Mayor's Column: COVID Vaccine Update


An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
­­­

COVID-19 has now impacted our daily lives for nearly a year. Two of the central topics that come up daily are the current State imposed business restrictions and the distribution of the COVID-19 Vaccine.  Here is a brief update of where things stand as of this week.

Vaccine Distribution:

We are currently in Phase 1A of the State’s vaccine distribution plan. This phase covers frontline healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents and staff. 

Phase 1B will cover frontline essential workers, approximately 1.3 Million individuals and residents age 65 and over, approximately 1.9 Million individuals.

We can report that over 50 of our Public Safety Staff have received the 1st dose of the vaccine and had little or no effects.  Some have started to receive their 2nd dose, and most have again reported no side effects. A very small amount reported having headaches or slight chills within the first 24 hours after receiving the vaccination.

We will keep updating information on vaccine availability as we get the information.

New Restriction Guidelines:

The Governor’s office announced that on January 15th the following new evaluation criteria will be used to start lifting the current restrictions:

  1. The region must have a positivity rate of 12% or less.
  2. More than 20% of ICU and other hospital beds must be available.
  3. There must be declining COVID hospitalization for seven out of the previous ten days.

The latest positivity rate for St. Clair County as this is being written on Friday was 14.2%. This is down from the 15.5% rate on Sunday, January 3rd.  The regional rate is reported to be 13.5% at this time.

Please stay safe and take all the proper precautions available to you.  My family understands very personally the seriousness of this virus.  My brother-In-law, who lives in Minnesota, has just been discharged from the Hospital following a two-week hospitalization COVID-19. We have lost too many good people already.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open (virtually, at least)!