Once the vaccine is introduced, the Department of Health will move to a reservation-based COVID-19 test | Cecil Wig

“It’s still free, you don’t need a doctor’s order, you don’t have to show any symptoms or anything like that,” she said. “To be able to manage demand, we just need to move to this booking-only model.”

Levy explained that in addition to increased demand, bad weather was one of the causes. The department previously conducted regular drive-through tests and had to adjust its plans to respond to storms and other weather factors.

“We are very dependent on the weather,” she said. “If you have a weather event and you have to cancel it, it will be very difficult to manage.”

That said, switching to a reservation-based model will ease the burden on department staff who have been working overtime to provide key medical services to Cecil County residents since the March pandemic. I’m expecting that.

To confirm the hard work, many departmental staff are in the first line of the newly accepted COVID-19 vaccine. The Maryland Department of Health distributes the first dose to the county by population and provides Levy and her team with the first batch of 90 vials, each containing about 10 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Still, they will soon need more — Levy expects to complete 900 of them in about a week.

The department prioritized vaccinated people, starting with health care workers, caregiver residents, and first responders, according to state and federal guidelines.

“Currently, availability is fairly limited,” she said. “I’ve received a lot of calls from people who want to know when they’re available, but unfortunately there’s no definitive date yet.”

As more supplies roll in from the state in the coming weeks, they will move to the next stage of priority. This includes people over the age of 75 (Levy estimates that there are about 6,500 people in the county) and thousands of civil servants in transportation, education and postal services, grocery stores, agriculture and childcare workers. Employees are included. And other sectors.

Healthcare professionals, including community healthcare providers, are included in the top priority group because they are essential vaccinated persons. Levy hopes that as the supply of vaccines becomes more widespread, the vaccine will be available to the general public through primary care physicians and nearby pharmacies.

Maryland is one of the slowest states in the country to distribute vaccines, allocating only about 10% of its dose. Bloomberg News.. However, Levy defended the state, noting that the initial focus was on providing hospitals with sufficient doses to inoculate care staff.

“The state is putting it out as soon as possible,” Levy said. “It took a few weeks for the allocation to take place. [county] In the health sector, I don’t think it was unexpected given the current shortage of supplies. “

According to Levy, the first study to measure demand reflects a “quite high” level of hesitation about taking the vaccine, and many people use the vaccine to make sure there are no unexpected side effects. I hope to wait until it is widely distributed.

Levy said she understood.

“This year is a stressful year and people feel the weight of that stress,” she said. “People just want to see how everyone reacts. And so far, we haven’t seen any side effects. The only side effect we’ve heard is arm pain.”

That said, she emphasizes that vaccines from both Moderna and Pfizer, two pharmaceutical companies that have received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, have already been thoroughly tested by tens of thousands of people. Did.

“These two vaccines have a very strong safety profile,” she said. “I hope they understand that as people experience it, it is safe and can be expected to receive some protection, and that it will help bring our lives back to normal sooner or later. I am. “

Levy also needs that the mitigation strategies (face masks, social distance, restrictions on large gatherings) that became common this year, despite the first vaccine being given, will remain common for some time. I repeatedly emphasized.

National trends reflect a surge in new cases after vacations throughout the year. The news of the first vaccine may have looked like a Christmas gift from Santa himself, but Levy said he intends to make the celebration smaller this year.

“My family had a very small and quiet holiday on Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is different from the previous year, but hopefully only this year,” she said. “I hope that the vaccine has been distributed so that we can all celebrate together the way we want, but I think we have to wait a bit longer.”

Levy, who took on his role just nine months before the pandemic, joked that he thought his job was stressful enough by that time, slowly moving on to his pre-pandemic priorities. I’m looking forward to returning.

She admitted to staff that she had worked hard to keep Cecil County safe after a difficult year. All of these public test events were run by department staff and often worked overtime to provide these community services.

“The dedication and dedication here is really great, and I’m very proud to work here,” Levy said. “I can’t say good enough. The way everyone here got together was really extraordinary.”

Looking forward to the New Year, she thanked the members of the community for keeping them safe and limiting the spread of the virus in Cecil County as much as possible.

“I want to thank everyone for what they have done to protect themselves and their families,” she said. “Focus on what you can do to reduce risk.”