Hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans are now vaccinated against COVID-19, but health experts say those numbers need to continue to climb.And there s a specific group that officials are looking at, young people. We really need those individuals who are 18 to 35, 18 to 40 even, to understand the importance of getting the vaccine, said LToya Knighten, chief of government affairs for the Oklahoma City-County Health Department. But we also need that younger age demographic to understand that our hospitalizations right now, while they are flat and flatter than they have been here in the past six to nine months. While that group hasn t been as harshly affected as the older population in the past, that may change. The folks that we are seeing in the hospitals now are trending much younger than the population that made up the majority of hospitalizations this time last year in April 2020, Knighten said.So, COVID-19 vaccinations might come to you by way of a local event. In fact, the O
Updated: 10:55 AM CDT Apr 30, 2021
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Show Transcript First stood at this podium one year, one month and 15 days ago, I explained that in the face of a global pandemic, swiftly killing thousands of people in cities around the world and in the absence of a vaccine or a cure, we would have no choice but to utilize the same tactics humans had employed a century ago and on many occasions before that, keep our distance from each other. Don t gather, wash our hands and eventually wear a mask. So to minimize how much, we literally spit the virus on each other As you well know. four months and 16 days ago, a vaccine for COVID-19 arrived in Oklahoma City. Since that day, hundreds of thousands of our metro residents have received it. As a direct result, new daily cases have declined 90 from their highs and hospitalizations have declined by a similar percentage. At our worst times this winter, we had 1000 new cases per day in Oklahoma City and over 700 people in
By: Erica Rankin
OKLAHOMA CITY -
The Oklahoma City-County Health Department and several other partners hosted a major vaccination POD on Wednesday at the state fairgrounds.
The POD had the ability to accept 10,000 appointments, but heading into the day, there were only 4,800 appointments scheduled.
OCCHD officials said they have seen a lag in people signing up to get the vaccine recently due to numerous reasons like hesitancy.
“I think it is like anything else,” said Dr. Patrick McGough, the executive director of the OCCHD. “When it is novel and new, everyone feels like I have to run out and get it, but now that it is available, I think they are feeling less of an urgency. But time is of the essence.”
Thousands gather at Oklahoma State Fairgrounds to get COVID-19 vaccine Share Updated: 6:00 PM CDT Apr 7, 2021 Share Updated: 6:00 PM CDT Apr 7, 2021
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Show Transcript UNTIL 6 PM TONIGHT. ANYONE EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE AN APPOINTMENT CAN OUT HERE TO THE STATE FAIRGROUNDS AND GET EITHER THE JOHNSON & JOHNSON THE MINDANA OR THE PFIZER VACCINE AND I’M TOLD THEY GIVING OUT MORE THAN 4,000 DOSES TODAY. THOUSANDS OF OKLAHOMA’S SHOWING UP TO THE STATE FAIRGROUNDS TODAY TO GET THEIR COVID-19 SHOT. IT REMINDS ME OF STANDING IN. WITH MY FATHER IN THE EARLY 1960S TO CHEW UP A SUGAR CUBE. AT THE TIME TO CRUSH POLIO AND NOW WE HAVE THE CHANCE TO CRUSH COVID-19 THE OKLAHOMA CITY COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT HOSTING ANOTHER MEGA VACCINE POD EVENT MAYOR DAVID HOLT AMONG THOSE IN LINE TODAY GETTING HIS SECOND VACCINE SHOT. WE ARE WITNESSING HERE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TODAY RECEIVING A VACCINATION. THAT WAS CREATED IN RECORD TIME THAT IS GOING TO CHANGE
Oklahoma experts explain why men aren t getting COVID-19 vaccine as often as women Share Updated: 5:59 PM CDT Apr 6, 2021 Share Updated: 5:59 PM CDT Apr 6, 2021
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Show Transcript TO HERD IMMUNITY. YOU KNOW PEOPLE KIND OF BLAME IT ON SORT OF THAT SORT OF MACHO CULTURE, YOU KNOW AS IT TURNS OUT DOCTORS. I SPOKE WITH SAY PREVENTATIVE CARE LIKE GETTING VACCINATED IS SOMETHING MEN HAVE HISTORICALLY STRUGGLED WITH MEN IN GENERAL DON’T PURSUE PREVENTIVE SERVICES AS OFTEN OR AS WELL AS WOMEN DO THAT’S BEEN KNOWN FOR AND YOU KNOW, I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF LIVES OUT THERE THAT ARE TRYING TO KICK THEIR HUSBANDS TO GO GET THEIR COLONOSCOPY IN SOME SUGGESTS GETTING THE COVID-19 VACCINE HAS BECOME PARTISAN. SO IT’S FAIR TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, IF MEN DON’T GO GET THE VACCINE THEY COULD BE KEEPING US FROM HERD IMMUNITY. YEAH, THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT AND THESE THESE MUCH MORE INFECTIOUS. VARIANCE OF THE VIRUS NEED EVEN MORE PERCENT TO PEOPLE T