U.S. Surgeon General tells public to stay vigilant as vaccine is distributed
COLUMBUS, OH (WCMH)- Today U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams made a stop in Ohio to meet with state leaders and representatives from both the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio National Guard.
During his remarks Dr. Adams said the words of the day are vaccine and vigilance. He said although the vaccine is a light at the end of the tunnel, we still need to make it to the finish line.
"There is a finish line in sight, but you can't afford to stop running. You have to run hard to get to that finish line," said Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
Both Dr. Adams and Governor Mike DeWine applauded the Moderna's vaccine authorization.
"Our goal is to get this out just as fast as we can... Beginning next week with Moderna coming in, we hope Moderna comes in Monday, Tuesday," said Governor Mike DeWine, (R) Ohio.
Governor DeWine says at our current pace we expect for all our nursing home employees and residents who want to be vaccinated to have the opportunity in three to four weeks. Both men said the vaccination of our healthcare workers and nursing homes marks a big win in this pandemic.
"We can start to have visits in nursing homes again which is going to be great in the mental health of seniors. We can get our health care workers feeling safe so that you can get the care that you need," said Dr. Adams.
Despite concerns about production, Dr. Adams says the Federal Government is on track to have 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year. Dr. Adams says he is more concerned with the vaccine being available and some people being hesitant to take it.
"What would be a real shame is if we actually have the tools to end this pandemic but we either saw disparities worsen or the pandemic linger on because the people who are hardest hit are often the ones who are most reluctant to take a vaccine," said Dr. Adams.
While we wait for the vaccine to become widely available, Dr. Adams and Governor DeWine are asking people to keep their guards up, especially with Christmas around the corner.
"Now is the time to be especially prudent about limiting your bubble, don't go out to an Ohio State football game party with ten of your buddies and then go home to grandma," said Dr. Adams.