The COVID pandemic is not over.

“Unfortunately, infection numbers in Warren County and the U.S. are climbing again, which is a real concern to a diverse group of local citizens,” Warren General Hospital Medical Director Dr. Keith Price, a member of the Warren County COVID Action Team (WCCAT), said.

“Since late 2020, the WCCAT has been working to fight this scourge of the last three years,” Chairman Rev. Matthew Scott said. “One of our main goals is to help increase the vaccination rates in Warren County. Only about 52 percent of Warren County residents have gotten the primary series of two vaccines.”

The rate is much higher for seniors.

“Thankfully, that percentage is about 81 percent for residents over 65, who are the most vulnerable to infection,” Scott said.

There is more to be done, even for seniors. “Only about 30 percent of those over 65 have gotten the bivalent booster,” Scott said. “We’d like to see that number higher, because we now know that immunity after infection or vaccination decreases a fair amount in six months.”

“We also have one of the highest death rates per population in Pennsylvania,” he said. “We’d like to see that number lower.”

To help reach its goals and protect the citizens of the county, the group has hosted several vaccination clinics throughout the county.

“Besides pharmacies, which were the main site for vaccination since earlier in the pandemic, a number of primary care offices are now able to provide ‘the jab,’ including Warren Pediatric Associates and the primary care offices of the Warren Medical Group,” Scott said.

The group isn’t solely interested in promoting and helping people find vaccines.

“Masks are now readily available, but testing supplies are crucial,” Price said. “To buy them outright can be a bit pricey, but often they can be obtained for free.”

“We have provided thousands of free test kits to Warren County residents,” Pennsylvania Department of Health Community Health Organizer Beth Blauser said. “More can be ordered from the Department of Health.”

“Additionally, it was announced last week that four testing kits from the federal government are available free to each U. S. household,” Blauser said.

Those interested may register at special.usps.com/testkits

“Testing is key to reducing the spread of COVID, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated,” Gaughn’s Drug Store Pharmacist, Clinical Coordinator, and Program Manager Justin Scholl said. “Many insurance plans, especially Medicare, are offering up to eight tests per person per month at no cost to the patient.”

“The third goal of WCCAT is to direct folks to good information about COVID, its effects and the various vaccinations available,” Price said. “There is so much information on the web about COVID.”

“There is also so much misinformation and outright disinformation,” Price said. “I think many people forget that this is a new virus and that all the answers could not be known instantly.”

“We are now three years into the pandemic. Much has been learned, but there are still many questions: ‘What about long COVID?’, ‘How long will the vaccines last?’, ‘When will this all end?'”

“One vaccine-resistant friend responded to information I posted about vaccination, encouraging people to do the research and decide for themselves,” he said. “I could not agree more! This immunization has been studied more than any vaccine in history. Is it without side effects? No. But the risks of having a COVID infection far, far outweigh any risks from the vaccines. As of December 2022, folks who got vaccinated and had the bivalent booster are 15 times less likely to die from a COVID infection than are those without vaccination.”

“I wish the vaccines were 100-percent effective in helping you totally avoid any chance of infection,” Price said. “Unfortunately, that is not true. With mutations of the virus, making it more infectious and the original vaccine recipe less effective, a number of vaccinated people have become infected. But getting the vaccine and the recent booster – covering the original and omicron variants – has been very effective in decreasing serious illness and death from COVID.”

“I use the analogy of protective football gear,” Price said. “Do football players who wear their shoulder pads, helmets and other protective gear sometimes still get injured? Yes, they do. Does that mean that all that gear is totally ineffective and should be scrapped? Absolutely not! That protection can help a lot, but not 100 percent of the time. COVID immunizations are like that.”

“Vaccines are the best tools we have to decrease chances of serious illness and death, but they aren’t perfect,” Scholl said. “We need to do other things to keep COVID numbers low: hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, masking in crowded areas especially if not feeling well, and staying home when sick.”

Those steps will also help against other respiratory illnesses.

“It seems that flu and RSV have become real problems, so I would encourage folks to do all these things to keep their friends, family and neighbors safe, not just from COVID, but from all these other illnesses as well,” Scholl said.

Unfortunately, the list goes on.

“Mental health issues have been a huge problem in these COVID years, from stress from shut downs and isolation to long-term effects of the infection itself,” Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said.

Eggleston has been part of the WCCAT group from the beginning and has worked to get funding to address this facet of the pandemic. “Besides working to prevent future infections, we want to concentrate on helping those Warren Countians whose mental health has been negatively impacted by all this,” Eggleston said. “At this point, this project continues to be a work in progress.”

Vaccinations are available at the following local sites:

¯ CVS in Warren – Pfizer, ages 12 and over, by calling (814) 723-1914 or by visiting the website and clicking on COVID-19 vaccines;

¯ Darling’s in Sugar Grove – Moderna bivalent booster for ages 18 and over, by calling (814) 489-7777;

¯ Gaughn’s in Warren – Moderna initial series and bivalent booster for ages 12 and over, by calling (814) 723-2840 or visiting www.gaughns.com and clicking on ‘vaccine scheduling’;

¯ Sheffield Pharmacy in Sheffield – Moderna initial series and bivalent booster for ates 18 and over, by calling (814) 968-3636;

¯ Walmart Pharmacy in North Warren – Pfizer initial series and bivalent booster for ages five and over and Moderna initial series and bivalent booster for ages six and over, by calling (814) 723-8250 or by visiting www.walmart.com/vaccine;

¯ Warren Pediatrics of Warren – initial series and bivalent booster for ages six months and older, by calling (814) 723-8023.

¯ Warren Medical Group Primary Care Officers – Moderna initial series and bivalent booster for ages six months and older, by calling (814) 723-0407 (Crescent Park); (814) 723-1212 (St. Clair); or (814) 726-3310 (Drs. Williams and Church.

¯ Warren State Health Center on the grounds of Warren State Hospital.

Scheduling help for children not included at other locations is available by calling Kasey Schaffer at 814-728-3566.