COVID-19 Vaccine To Arrive In Two Weeks

WARREN TAYLOR | Citizen Staff

The COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in Bourbon County in two weeks, according to Dr. Patty Swiney.
Swiney, a local physician and the medical director for the Paris-Bourbon County EMS Board, said she received confirmation from the health department during the board’s meeting on Monday, Dec. 14.
The first group to receive the vaccine will be local first responders and medical professionals. So far, the number of individuals who have volunteered to be vaccinated is not as high as expected.
“I got a list together of all agencies in Bourbon County: volunteer, police, sheriff and EMS,” said Paris Fire Chief Michael Duffy. “Of the Paris-Bourbon County EMS Department, about 35 people off the top of my head, there are 15 that signed up to take this vaccine.”
Duffy said that half of the Paris Police Department, one emergency dispatcher and 30 volunteer firefighters also signed up. He also said that he had yet to hear back from the Bourbon County Fire Department.
There is no policy in place to require first responders to take the vaccine, Duffy said.
Swiney said she was “disappointed in the numbers.”
“This is going to be very, very critical. We’ve got to encourage the public to take this,” Swinney said. “There is no reason to fear this (vaccine). I think there has been a lot of politicization of the vaccine.”
The vaccine will not cause an individual to get the virus, nor will it implant a microchip that will give them “the mark of the beast,” Swiney said.
Pfizer’s vaccine, which the county will administer, has a 90 percent effective rate, which Swinney said is comparable to the lauded measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
There are noted side effects caused by the vaccine, though.
“You will be sick. The shot hurts like any shot. You’re probably going to have a fever–low grade–and maybe feel a little achy with a headache,” Swinney said.
The vaccine is “the only way we are going to get rid of this (virus),” Swiney said. She cautioned that the side effects, which are easily treated with over the counter medication, are better than “dying on a ventilator.”