By Dr. Amir Mohammad
Your Health
Dr. Amir Mohammad
Over the last two months, we noticed a rapid surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases across all states as well as in the town of Orange. These included both lab-reported cases as well at-home test results. The new cases among school-aged children were significantly higher than previous months.
Although this spike of new COVID cases was unprecedented, we noticed that the health effects of the omicron strain were milder, especially among fully vaccinated people. Only this week, I have started to notice a decline in lab-confirmed reportable cases. However, we still need to monitor this downward trend.
As I have written before in my previous columns, I am a strong proponent of a robust and proactive local public health department and workforce. I am delighted to inform you that we have been able to recruit a public health nurse to our team. Lynn Earlene Peckham is an Orange resident who recently retired from the Yale School of Nursing. Peckham spent the majority of her career working in school-based health centers, which serve as clinical settings within schools. She is known as a “rock star preceptor” and an experienced clinician who has always worked collaboratively with different agencies, including the Board of Education, the Department of Public Health and the hospital systems. During pandemic, Peckham was triaging phone calls, conducting telehealth visits and ordering COVID-19 tests for pediatric patients.
Now that I have Peckham onboard, I have reached out to our clinic volunteers who were instrumental in hosting vaccine clinics. The Orange Health Department will be resuming COVID-19 vaccine clinics for our residents on Wednesday, Feb. 16 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 22 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the High Plains Community Center. We will be giving Pfizer vaccines for residents ages 5-11 and 12 and older. Our clinics will provide first and second doses, as well as booster shots. Only Pfizer vaccines will be available at this time. To schedule an appointment, please go on to the town’s website at orange-ct.gov and register.
I am fortunate to be living in such an amazing town where I find like-minded people willing to step up and offer their help to support our community. We can only win our fight against this virus if we work together, respect each other and learn from our experiences.
We must continue to learn, evolve, adapt and look forward toward the goals and strategies for the “new normal” of life with COVID-19. This pandemic has brought out the best and worst of human behavior. The status quo is not an option; we need our leaders and policymakers to institute necessary reforms and the resources to build and sustain an effective public health infrastructure to respond to these ongoing and future crises in a timely manner.
Dr. Amir Mohammad is the Director of Public Health for the town of Orange.