OSWEGO – Mayor Billy Barlow held a virtual town hall meeting last night, January 28, to discuss updates regarding the pandemic and vaccine distribution within the city.
He gave an overview of active COVID-19 cases within Oswego County since last March. There was a surge of active cases during the winter holidays and has since began to decline. Oswego County Today provides a report on these numbers Monday through Friday.
“All the data is moving in a positive direction,” Barlow said.
In regards to residents receiving the vaccine to fight against the virus, Barlow explained that right now people who fall into the 1A and 1B categories are eligible. As reported by the mayor, this includes 2,516 people aged 65 and older in the City of Oswego, and 20,513 across Oswego County. Throughout the state, 5.3 million New Yorkers fall under the 1A and 1B phases.
Barlow said the state has received 1.3 million doses of the vaccine, and 1.25 million have been administered. Oswego Health has distributed 2,333 first doses and 254 second doses (the vaccine comes in two separate doses), and Oswego County has distributed 1,788 first doses.
“Back to the main issue, local supply beyond the doses that have already been administered is extremely minimal because we are waiting for the next batch – New York state is waiting for the next batch – Central New York is waiting for the next batch [from the federal government],” Barlow said.
Barlow said as a state plan, county health departments and hospitals administer 1A and 1B public employees and first responders. Pharmacies will vaccinate the general public as you become eligible.
He recommended general public residents to call their usual pharmacies when they have the supply. He said the pharmacy at Walmart is not offering vaccines at this time. Kinney Drugs and Wayne’s will when they have the supply. He also said Walgreens is focusing on nursing home residents and staff at this time.
Barlow thanked community partners for their help during the pandemic, including Oswego Health, the City of Oswego, SUNY Oswego, Upstate Medical University, and the Oswego police and fire departments.
Joining the mayor were Oswego Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Duane Tull and Director of Integrated Healthcare Katie Pagliaroli who helped answer questions submitted by residents.
Tull explained that a vaccine is a form of medicine given to someone to stimulate their immune system to fight a virus or infection.
“It basically gives you a police force ready to fight if anything happens,” Tull said.
Among the questions submitted for the Q&A were as follows:
Question: When will shots be made available for those under 65 and/or with preexisting conditions/weak immune system?
Answer: It depends on the availability of the supply. Barlow said phases 1A and 1B were chosen by the state government who help the healthcare run, those who everyone needs, especially during a pandemic, and then education staff and those 65 and older. He said he estimates the general population to have access to the vaccine by late spring.
Pagliaroli said it will take about 17 to 18 weeks for 1A and 1B to get vaccinated. She said the goal is herd immunity.
“If you’re vaccinated, that is going to protect you – your immune system is going to kick up if you’re exposed to COVID, your immune system is going to take care of it,” Pagliaroli said. “In conjunction with that, to protect the people who haven’t been vaccinated… we are doing the other things – the masking, the handwashing, the social distancing, avoiding those large gatherings.”
Question: Why do we need to get two shots and how long between shots?
Answer: Tull said the two available vaccines – Moderna and Pfizer – are slightly different but both require two separate doses. The first dose is beginning the process of getting the antibodies, which is predicted to be about a 58% protection within two weeks of the dose. The second dose is basically a booster dose to bring that protection to about 94 or 95% within a week of the second dose. Moderna has a four week or 28 day interval and Pfizer has a three week or 21 day interval. You are scheduled an appointment for your second dose during your first dose.
Question: How do you know it is safe it was created and approved so quickly and distributed to millions of people before testing groups of people first?
Answer: Tull explained that an Emergency Use Authorization of a new drug is only released after safety testing. There were thousands of volunteers who participated in the safety testing. Pagliaroli also said that this type of technology has been around for a long time and scientists began working on a vaccine with that base technology when the World Health Organization announced the virus as a public health emergency.
Question: What sports are allowed to be played now, will these sports be allowed to open in Oswego and what about the Kingsford Park Ice Rink?
Answer: Barlow explained that Cuomo announced that high risk sports will be allowed to begin February 1, including football, ice hockey, wrestling, and basketball. Although the state says they can play, it is up to each individual school district. He said minor hockey has been playing using the Crisafulli Ice Rink. The Kingsford Park Ice Rink will be down for another week while it gets some repairs. He said the city will probably wait to see what the school district wants to do with varsity hockey before bringing that rink online. As for fans, it is still in discussion but he would rather cap it at parents of the players only.
Question: Where are the virus shots for Oswego, or are we forgotten?
Answer: Barlow again said that it largely has to do with supply from the federal government. There are state-run sites, including the New York State Fairgrounds and the Oncenter in Syracuse. He said the county will have some clinics soon for second doses (February 3, 6 and 10), but will not have as much vaccine available as the state-run sites. He suggested trying to get on a list through your pharmacy.
CORRECTION from Oswego County: The vaccination clinics scheduled for Feb. 3, 6, and 10 are pre-scheduled second dose appointments for Oswego County’s first responders and others eligible under the New York State guidelines. The Health Department is obligated to complete the vaccination process for Phase 1A and 1B categories, and vaccine is allocated for those groups. No first dose vaccinations will be administered. Please do not call the Health Department to schedule a first dose vaccine for those dates.
Question: If I don’t get regular flu shots or any shots normally, would it still make sense to get the COVID vaccine?
Answer: Tull said yes because COVID is different than the flu and is more severe. He encourages anyone who has the opportunity to get a COVID vaccine to do so.
Question: Have people experienced side effects from the vaccine and what are they?
Answer: Tull said most of the symptoms people can get from the vaccine are flu-like symptoms, such as a fever in a rare occasion, soreness at the injection site and sometimes aches and pains. He said sometimes the second dose can be worse than the first, but so far in Oswego County there have been no significant or severe reactions to the vaccine. He said experiencing these symptoms means the vaccine is doing what it is supposed to be doing and building your body’s immune response to fight the virus. Pagliaroli said a person who has had COVID in the past may have a stronger reaction to the vaccine than someone who has not had the virus.
Question: What is the city doing to ensure all seniors 65 and older have the opportunity to get the vaccine? Are there any sites in Oswego and who’s overseeing and administering these sites?
Answer: Barlow said several members of the Oswego Fire Department are certified to administer the vaccine, which will be helpful down the road when supply ramps up and there are more frequent clinics in the community, should local healthcare facilities need assistance.
Question: Do people need to wear a mask once they get both shots? We all know children have been able to fight off the virus, so should they get vaccinated?
Answer: Pagliaroli said yes, you should still wear a face mask, wash your hands and social distance to prevent the spread. She said it will take quite a while to get to full herd immunity, so it is important to continue those efforts. Children cannot get the Moderna (18 years and above) or Pfizer (16 years and above) vaccines because that age group was not part of the trial when racing to provide a vaccine. There is no vaccine available for those 16 and under at this time, however both groups are now doing studies on minors.
Following a comment about the continued work auto repair shops and garages have been doing throughout the pandemic, Barlow acknowledged and appreciated them.
Question: When and how will people who are homebound be given the opportunity to get the vaccine?
Answer: Barlow guessed once the supply is increased there will be measures introduced, such as getting the vaccine to those who are homebound during routine visits from home health agencies. Tull said an issue is with storage and transportation of the vaccine. Once a vial is punctured, that vaccine is good for six hours. Right now, a better option might be the county’s offer of free transportation to a vaccine appointment.
Question: When will those with preexisting conditions be eligible?
Answer: Pagliaroli said there are some manufacturers working on the vaccine and expects for the supply to increase when more vaccines come to the market. She said Oswego Health has a commitment to use all the vaccine they receive within seven days. She recommended those with preexisting conditions to check with the Am I Eligible app/site or to call the state hotline number: 1-833-697-4829 and to keep checking for available appointments. Tull said the appointments fill up quickly, and that for Oswego Health’s last clinic, it took less than an hour to fill up all slots for 975 doses.
Question: With school districts reopening and college kids returning, our cases will go up. How are we going to stop this from happening and why let it happen to begin with?
Answer: Barlow said schools seem to be one of the more safer areas to be due to children’s resiliency to contracting the virus, and the cost of the schools being closed for as long as they have been is enormous and looks forward to children being able to get back to school. The college kids have returned early to get tested in order to get back into the classroom. He said he has minimal concern because in the fall semester when they had an increase in positive cases, their system worked. They closed down several extracurricular activities and went on a two week pause from in-person classes. Students, faculty and staff are regularly tested and he didn’t get the sense that the college cases had an aggressive community spread within the city because of the control.
Question: Will events and fairs be allowed this year, specifically Harborfest?
Answer: Barlow said it is too early to tell. While Harborfest is its own entity, the city hosts a Summer Concert Series and the Independence Day parade. The city normally begins planning the parade around now, but is holding off for right now.
Question: Will the city or county be contracting with Kinney’s or anyone else like Onondaga County is to administer the vaccine?
Answer: Barlow said as supply ramps up more vaccination sites can pop up around the area.
Question: The second vaccination dose you mentioned is a booster to the first. Do you know anything about the new virus strain and any additional booster you might need to be given due to the new strain?
Answer: Tull said the science right now shows that the vaccine is working against all the mutated strains, so there should not be a need for a booster. The bad news is, these new strains seem to spread faster, but the good news is, they seem to cause less illness than the first strain. Tull explained that a new strain is usually a small change in the protein of the virus. It does not change the entire architecture or make a new virus.
“It may change, but we will know as soon as it happens,” Tull said.
At this point, there were no more questions for the panel to answer and the town hall concluded.
“I understand the frustration, and it may sound like a lot of folks around you are getting vaccinated, but I can assure you there’s no magic list. There’s no phone number that you haven’t found yet,” Barlow said. “It’s the supply and demand; it’s as basic as that. Hopefully the federal government can step up supply because we know the demand isn’t going anywhere. As supply ramps up, more sites in Oswego, pharmacies, Oswego Hospital, county government will get the vaccine out there to get in peoples’ arms.”
Links and Resources:
- Oswego City Hall Assistance Line: 315-343-4990
- Oswego County COVID-19 Hotline: 315-349-3330
- Oswego County Office for the Aging: 315-349-3484
- NYS COVID-19 Hotline: 1-888-354-3065
- COVID-19 Vaccine Information
- Am I Eligible?: 1-833-697-4829
- Oswego County COVID-19 information
- Oswego County Today reports on COVID-19 Monday through Friday.
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