OSF Saint Anthony cancer patient says I do in Rockford hospital ceremony
Paul Arco
ROCKFORD Vicki Smith met Mike Ethridge more than 30 years ago when she was working for a tree service company through a temp agency. On the last day of her week-long assignment, Smith noticed a striking man walk into the store.
“And I thought, Who is that guy? He was in and out. I thought, ‘He looks so good.’ Before my day was up he came back with a red rose for me, said Vicki Smith, crying. That’s how that happened.”
Three decades later and the bloom remains fresh for this Rockford couple. They’ve had their ups and downs, like most couples, but they’ve always supported each other through good times and bad. Especially when Smith was diagnosed with cancer eight years ago. She fought through and won the battle. But recently, Smith got some upsetting news about her health.
If you're one of the approximately 6,500 people in the Rockford area who'd planned on getting the second dose of the COVID vaccine from Moderna this week, you can keep your sleeve rolled down.
The Winnebago County Health Department announced the delay Tuesday via a news release, which states: There is a limited number of vaccines available for the entire state. Each county is limited in the amount they can get, and the state is limited in the amount that it receives. The delay in shipments will affect the roughly 6,700 patients in Winnebago County who were originally scheduled for their second dose this week. As a result, all three hospitals are awaiting further information on vaccine availability and will contact patients to reschedule their second dose when vaccines become available to them.
The delay is expected to last about a week, the health department said Tuesday evening, updating its previous release.
Credit Pixabay
Winnebago County Health Administrator Dr. Sandra Martell announced late Tuesday that a shipment of 9,000 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is now expected to arrive in the county by early next week.
Mercyhealth, OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center and SwedishAmerican health systems had announced earlier in the day that COVID-19 vaccines scheduled to arrive this week for their Winnebago County locations had been delayed.
The health systems said this would affect around 6,700 county residents who were scheduled for their second dose of the vaccine.
All three hospitals said at the time they were awaiting further information on vaccine availability and will contact patients to reschedule their second dose when vaccines become available to them.
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