By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In the first six weeks of 2022, Wood County nearly surpassed the number of COVID cases seen in the entire year of 2020.
Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Robison reported to the board of health Thursday evening that so far this year, 7,661 COVID cases have been reported locally. The peak topped out at nearly 400 new cases a day, settling at an average of 213 cases a day.
That compares to a total of 8,377 cases in 2020 or 23 cases a day, which pushed up to an average of 40 cases a day in 2021.
But there is good news, Robison said, with just 268 new cases reported in the last week.
“That’s consistent with what we’ve seen from our colleagues across the state,” he said.
As the number of cases have slowed, so has the number of vaccinations. So the health department plans to push vaccinations in February – especially boosters.
“We know that getting a booster is really a significant step,” Robison said.
During the past weeks of the Omicron variant, the COVID incident rate for people without vaccines was 18%, he said. The rate decreased to 4.5% for people with vaccinations, and dropped again to 1.3% for those with boosters.
Vaccines are expected to soon be available for ages 6 months to 4 years old. And more home tests are becoming available to the general public.
“This is all good news,” Robison said.
All these are indicators of a move from the pandemic to an endemic.
“We’re not quite there yet,” he said.
By Monday, Wood County Health Department staff, contractors and board members must take one of three routes to meet the federal vaccine mandate for healthcare facilities. Failure to do so would result in the loss of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for the community health center operated at the health department.
All employees and board members must show proof of vaccination, or must work remotely, or must seek a medical or religious exemption.
For employees who choose not to get the vaccination and don’t qualify for exemption, the health department will try to assign them to a position that would allow them to work remotely, Robison said.
The health board met Thursday in the Wood County Courthouse Complex atrium, where the county commissioners have a mask mandate in place. Security staff at the complex directed members of the public to the masks available at the entrance. According to the staff, each person entering wore a mask as they entered.
However, once the 15 members of the public sat down in the atrium, all but one removed their masks or pulled them down to their chins.
A few spoke to the health board about COVID vaccines and mask mandates.
Mary Vollmar, who described herself as a certified clinical science laboratory person, said studies show that masks are not as effective as believed. “Studies are very deceptive,” she said.
Vollmar and David Desser said natural immunity is far more effective than the COVID vaccine.
“The mandates and restrictions have hurt more people than they have saved,” Desser said. “You should not overreach and take people’s freedoms.”
Tim Stechschulte cited the “zillions” of adverse effects from the vaccine.
“I know people personally who suffered from it,” he said. Stechschulte said the vaccine is responsible for 23,000 deaths, 124,000 hospitalizations, and 41,000 permanent disabilities.
“This is killing people,” he said.
Later in the meeting, when asked by a board member, Robison responded to the claims.
“To my knowledge, we have not had a vaccine-related death in Wood County,” he said.
While there is a site to report suspected adverse effects of the vaccine, the site is an early reporting system – not yet scientifically investigated, said board member Dr. Bob Midden.
“As a physician, I’m very supportive of vaccinations,” said board President Dr. Tom Milbrodt. In addition to preventing severe cases of COVID, “it’s reduced the load in our hospitals. They were really close to the breaking point.”
In other business at the meeting, a citizen from Fostoria voiced his concerns about the Sunny Farms landfill located on the south edge of the city. The water processed by the city comes from reservoirs 1,000 feet from the landfill, he said.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen in your backyard,” he said.
While the landfill isn’t in Wood County, some of the water customers are. He asked the health department to investigate the issue.
