2021/01/19 - Mayor's Column: Another Update on COVID
An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
I said last week that I would try to keep everyone updated on where we are in the COVID restrictions from the State and about vaccinations.
As of the January 15th, our region was not removed from the heightened restrictions. The State has three different requirements before we can get out of Tier Three:
- Less than 12% positivity rate. We are good here with a 10.3%
- All hospital beds in the region must be 20% or more open. We are only at 13%
- ICU hospital beds must be 20% or more open: Our ICU beds were only 15.9% open on the 15th.
This means the current restrictions stay in place for our Region, for now. Some of the State’s other regions were removed from Tier Three.
When it comes to the vaccinations, we have some good solid information for you to use as you make your decision as to get or not get the vaccination. We have now had over 50 of our Public Safety Staff get the first shot, and many have had their second shot. The only side effects for some were a headache or chills during the first 24 hours following the shot. This is so much better news than some reports that were circulating.
As these become available to all of us, we need to make the decision to get the shots and the protection that goes with it or not get the shots and take the risk of getting COVID.
About 65 years ago, our citizens had to make a similar decision on whether to get the Polio shots or not. At the time, it was only proven to be 80% to 90% effective (vs the COVID shots - 90% to 95% effectiveness).
The Polio Shots rolled out in 1955 and by the end of 1957 the number of new cases had dropped in the U.S. by nearly 90%. And by 1962, there were fewer than 1,000 cases of this crippling and deadly disease in the U.S.
Everyone must make their own decision on this and check with your health providers, but I would urge you to get the shots to help stop the spread of this virus like we did with Polio. I for one will get the shot or shots when they are available for me.
There is a County Site which is available for you to sign up. It is my understanding that this will be used to notify you when the vaccine is available for you. That site is at https://www.co.st-clair.il.us/departments/health-department/covid-19-information/vaccine-notification.
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One more item I would like to mention this week. On Monday, January 18th, we honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was a believer in non-violence, would it not be appropriate for us to honor him by doing what each of us can due to prevent the spread of the violence that we have seen spread across our country from the west coast to the east coast.
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)!