Health care providers reach out to Amish, Plain communities to encourage vaccination
WGAL News 8 coronavirus coverage Share Updated: 7:26 AM EDT May 16, 2021
WGAL News 8 coronavirus coverage Share Updated: 7:26 AM EDT May 16, 2021
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Show Transcript TO THIS COMMUNITY. SUSAN: AMISH AND PLAIN PEOPLE NUMBER ABOUT 25,000 IN LANCASTER COUNTY. HEALTH PROVIDERS ARE HOPING MANY OF THEM WILL STEP UP AND GET THE COVID-19 VACCINE, BUT IT COULD BE A CHALLENGE. WE FOUND IN GENERAL THE PLA COMMUNITIES ARE LESS LIKELY, A LITTLE BIT MORE HESITANT TO THINK ABOUT PREVENTION, LESS LIKELY TO GET ANY TYPE OF VACCINE. SUSAN: LGH IS NOW HOLDING VACCINATION CLINICS AT THE FULTON FIRE COMPANY IN PEACH BOTTOM AND AT A SITE IN PARADISE, AREAS WITH LARGE AMISH POPULATIONS. THAT WASN’T LOST ON JANE KEY GOT HER SHOT HERE. SHE I THOUGHT THAT WAS WHY THEY PUT IT IN THE OUTSKIRTS. THERE ARE A LOT OF AMISH AROUND HERE. SUSAN: JASON HASH GOT HIS SHOT HERE AND HO
THE ISSUE
India has seen more than 20 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and more than 226,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The New York Times reported this Wednesday: âOfficial estimates of the nationwide infection toll â well above 300,000 a day â are probably undercounted, epidemiologists say. The reported figure will mostly likely rise to 500,000 cases a day by August, they say, leaving as many as one million of Indiaâs 1.4 billion people deadâ from COVID-19.
Lancaster County is still considered an area of high risk for coronavirus transmission, but trends appear to be moving in the right direction.
As LNP | LancasterOnline reports, âinfection rates remain high and spread of the virus remains a major concern,â but âcase and hospitalization rates are now showing improvement as more than half of the countyâs adult population is now at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus.â
At approximately 9 a.m. Sunday, the Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center hit a new milestone in the fight to defeat COVID-19: 100,000 vaccines in arms.
The moment was marked with a lei around the neck of Keith Branch at the site of the former Bon-Ton store at Park City Center and an announcement over the public address system.
âI was just looking for royalty checks or a new car or something,â the 56-year-old Lancaster County resident said tongue-in-cheek.
Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center Co-Director Judy Brendle said cheers, applause and a few tears followed the announcement.
âItâs really a celebration that we share with our entire community,â said John Lines, a spokesman for Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. Each jab puts the community âthat much closer to ending the pandemic,â he said.