We knew nothing, really, even though the national networks were reporting about a possible plague coming to America because of a bat in China.
It was called a “Corona” virus, and most made jokes about a beer giving them a virus while recalling some “back-in-the-day” crazy nights when over-consumption caused sickness and long mornings. That stuff took place well before family members and friends started contracting Covid-19, and local folks were dying associated deaths.
Wheeling Hospital partnered with the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department in the third week of March 2020 to open an open-air testing center in the large parking lot at Wheeling Park. In October, the testing site relocated to the former Ohio Valley Medical Center campus in Center Wheeling, and state-funded free testing also was offered on Wheeling Island and in Valley Grove.
With the addition of six new positives reported yesterday, a total of 4,109 have been registered in Ohio County, and 82 associated deaths have been recorded.
“It’s not been an easy year,” said Lou Vargo, director of the Ohio County Emergency Management Agency. “For a lot of different reasons, it’s been a very difficult year for everyone. For the longest time, no one knew anything for sure. At the beginning of all this, the federal government said nothing about us having to wear masks everywhere, but here we are.
“We’ve had other viruses that have to come to the country, and the impact was nothing close to what we have lived this past year,” he said. “The truth is no one expected this.”
The Sore Arm
USA Today reported in December the federal government spent more than $9 billion on development for the Covid-19 vaccines, distributed amongst nine different companies. Another $2.5 billion was awarded for equipment, including storage vials and syringes needed to administer the vaccines. Pfizer and BioNTech received $1.95 billion for delivering 100 million doses to the U.S. These firms did not receive any funding for research and development.
Pfizer was first to receive emergency distribution approval from the Federal Drug Administration, and Moderna was next. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson version was approved less than a month ago. All three are delivered with a syringe.
Local educators Robert Strong and Radio Science News colleague Richard Pollack were stunned when the inoculation process was revealed by officials with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Microneedle Vaccine Patch
“Based on the research by the people are the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, they could have just created a microneedle patch and sent them to everyone in the mail,” said Strong, co-owner of Smart Center Market. “We wouldn’t have needed other people to put this vaccine in your arm. We could have done it ourselves. At the time almost a year ago, we were excited, especially me because I can’t stand needles. I really thought it was awesome. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and I couldn’t wait until it happened.
“Then the news came out that the vaccines were coming, and people were talking about the needles and vials,” he said. “And now it’s costing all of us for the products and the production process, and Richard and I couldn’t believe it. At some point we came to the point to where we could tell they weren’t going to deliver the vaccine with a patch but instead by using the old way that’s been around for a very long time.”
