Current data suggests the number of active coronavirus cases in Hickman County is declining and, simultaneously, the health department has begun distributing vaccines throughout the community.
Tom and Cherry Pyron of Hickman County received their first dose of their Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 11 at the Hickman County Clinic. Cherry says she and her husband were initially concerned about access to the vaccine through the local health department because the county doesn’t house any chain pharmacies. She said learning they could get the vaccine locally was a welcomed surprise.
“I do know that if we'd had to go to another county for the vaccine, the process would have been much more difficult and the wait would have been longer,” she said.
Cherry described her experience as “very pleasant.” She reported the next morning, she and her husband, Tom, experienced a little soreness at the injection site, which was expected. They are scheduled to receive their second shot on February 8.
She credited Judge-Executive Kenny Wilson and Deputy Judge-Executive Dawn Mathis for working diligently to reinstate a working staff at the Hickman County Health Department.
Gaye Bencini, editor of The Hickman County Times, reported that as of Jan. 11, 40 vaccinations had been administered at the clinic, and another report revealed nine residents at the Clinton-Hickman County Intermediate Care Facility had received their first shot.
Hickman County is currently one of the few counties out of the COVID-19 “red zone,” so the local availability of the vaccine and the response from people signing up is very encouraging, Pyron said.
According to the Hickman County Health Department, they initially received 10 vials of the Moderna vaccine. As of today, there are more than 500 people on the vaccine waiting list.
Casey Hanson, nurse supervisor at Hickman County Health Department, said as of right now, the health department is unable to schedule those who are still waiting.
“We don’t have a timeline as to when more is going to be shipped to us so we can start making those appointments,” she explained. “There really is no plan. As it becomes available, we are going to go by people who are most at risk.”
The Hickman County Health Department is scheduled to begin vaccinating school personnel this week. The rest of their 30 doses have been scheduled for this week as well. By that time, some will be ready to receive their booster shots, and the process repeats.
Hansen said, “It’s kind of like a waiting game.”
Although there is a great deal of uncertainty when it comes to distributing the vaccination, Pyron remains optimistic.
“If we all get into this together and get vaccinated, we'll eventually be able to actually get together in so many places and times,” she said. “We can do this together, and the effort needed to make great things happen is so little.”
