Hope Kiwanis Hears From County Health Officer Dr. Dale Goins and County Judge Jerry Crane, Dr. Goins Talks Vaccine

By Staff, 12/15/20 3:12 PM

The Hope Kiwanis Club heard from County Health Officer Dr. Dale Goins and County Judge Jerry Crane on Tuesday December 15th.  Dr. Goins spoke about the Corona Virus and the vaccine.  Judge Crane gave an updated on the courthouse but also noted some local projects in which COVID-19 temporarily shut down work due to the majority of the construction crew being exposed or diagnosed with COVID-19.

Dr. Goins detailed how the virus infects people differently and essentially explained the virus in laymen’s terms.  He noted as of Monday the state had seen about 181,000 cumulative cases and had over 20,000 active cases.   He noted some of the various treatments including Vitamins D and C, Zinc, antiviral drugs, and antibiotics.  Dr. Goins said the problem is there isn’t one standard treatment that works for everyone.

The vaccine has arrived in Hope in a limited amount says Dr. Goins.  He noted health care workers at the hospital are scheduled to begin getting the vaccine this week.  Dr. Goins noted he himself is scheduled to get his first dose on Friday.  Phase I will include vaccinating emergency room, ICU, and COVID unit staff.  He noted nursing home residents and staff are included in the Phase I vaccination.  Dr. Goins said Phase II will come at the end of this month.  This will include other health care workers and clinics.  He expects it will probably go to first responders as well.  Dr. Goins noted the Pfizer vaccine requires two shots.  After the first shot, the recipient will have about 50% immunity and after the second shot their immunity will rise to about 95%.  “If people have gotten two shots, their chance of getting the infection is very, very low”, says Dr. Goins.    He said the goal is to immunize about 200 to 250 million people and right now each of those people will need two shots.  Dr. Goins said another company may have a single shot vaccine out in January.  The need is not only for the U.S. but for the rest of the world as well.  He said if 75% to 80% of the population gets immunized, “herd immunity” will go up enough that COVID will stop spreading.  Dr. Goins stressed the vaccine does not contain a live virus.  Side effects can include sore muscles for about 50% of recipients and 10% will get the more serious side effects such as body aches for a couple of days.  He says the risk with the vaccine is very low.  Dr. Goins answered numerous questions about the vaccine including the length of effectiveness.  He said right now experts think the immunization will protect the recipient for 6 months to 18 month.  Dr. Goins also said the development of this vaccine is expected to aid in improving vaccines for other diseases as well.

Judge Crane noted several local projects have been held up due to COVID.  He noted the Tyson project near Cross Roads was held up for a week due to COVID as was the work on the new courthouse.   Judge Crane said some items for the preparation/renovation of the building have been scarce due to production being shut down for those items due to COVID.  The Judge noted the Courthouse completion date has been pushed back to March or April.  He also noted the original bid on the courthouse preparation was $3 million dollars but that has been pushed up to $3.1 million.  He noted the increase came because there were certain features of the building that had remained unfinished and these issues were discovered as the features were uncovered as work began.    Judge Crane noted the county has been affected by COVID.  He said the jail had been shut down at least once to stop the spread and the county has acquired a fogging machine with which they disinfect the current courthouse daily.

Judge Crane says the new courthouse will be an asset to the community and downtown.  He ended his part of the program by encouraging the Kiwanians to pray for our country.  Since the Judge’s portion was shorter than Dr. Goins’ portion, he has been invited to come back soon with another county update.