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History will record that Hannah White, RN, was first.
Today began COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Oklahoma City.
The moment was historic and emotional. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
Having said that...
Today began COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Oklahoma City.
The moment was historic and emotional. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
Having said that...
Widespread distribution of the vaccine will take months. Our new cases and hospitalizations are still at all-time highs right now and we can't wait for the vaccine to bring them down. Even as we celebrate this exciting day, we must maintain our precautions.
My full comments from the press conference today with Governor Stitt follow...
Governor Stitt, Tim Pehrson and the Integris team, public health officials and health care professionals, thank you for hosting us here today on this occasion.
In April, when we were starting to reopen gathering places that had been closed for six weeks, I turned to an oft-used Churchill quote to try and communicate where I felt we were in our pandemic journey.
My conclusion was that, in Churchill’s words, we were only at the end of the beginning. It feels like a lifetime has passed since those days in April.
And today, standing near a vaccine distribution facility, I feel I can say for the first time that we have finally arrived at the beginning of the end.
The images we are going to see here in Oklahoma City today will likely leave us emotional.
The images we are going to see here in Oklahoma City today will likely leave us emotional.
To watch someone receive a literal shot in the arm will give each of us a metaphorical shot in the arm. The moment is historic. The effect is life-changing. All of this is true, and the moment is worthy of commemoration and gratitude.
Thank you to the drug companies that have exceeded all historical expectations, thank you to the federal government for its stewardship of this process, thank you to the state government for its preparatory work...
... thank you to our indispensable Oklahoma City-County Health Department, and thank you to the health care professionals who will do the work on the ground.
But let me say this, though the day is historic, emotional and life-changing, the concluding chapter of this journey may be one of its longest. Today begins a multi-month effort, and that effort commences in the midst of our worst wave to date.
In Oklahoma City, we are currently averaging almost 1,000 cases a day and we have been averaging about 600 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. We’ve been at or near these all-time highs for weeks, and they are stretching our health care workers to their limits.
It will likely be months before the vaccine is distributed widely enough that it is a major contributing factor in diminishing the spread of the virus. Until then, we have to manage these numbers on our own.
As excited as I am about the arrival of this day, I am cautious and concerned about irrational exuberance. Just because you saw a nurse receive the vaccine on television does not mean that you have magically received the vaccine.
Don’t be the last soldier to die in the war where the peace treaty has already been signed. From this day forward, an avoidable transmission of this virus is especially senseless.
You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is in fact the light of day, but if you relax your precautions it will turn into a train. What you’re seeing today is absolutely an encouraging glimpse of our future, but for most of us, it is not our present.
So please, resolve to maintain and even enhance your precautions, recognizing that there is an end date now. The fatigue you feel will be remedied. You can do this. You have to do this.
Let’s get these numbers down the only way we know how today, by wearing our mask, keeping our distance and washing our hands. And when our time comes, we’ll get our two-dose vaccine and brighter days will arrive for all of us.
Thank you again for the opportunity, and to everyone involved in the preparation of this vaccine distribution effort, and its implementation, the people of Oklahoma City extend our deepest gratitude. Thank you.
