Absolutely every single person on the planet has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic one way or another. But we all have to agree that those on the front line, the doctors and the nurses, are the backbone of the health systems and are in most risk of contracting the deadly virus. Yet, they are on the job every single day and work long hours and often times double shifts in order to provide help to each and every patient out there.
The staff and the volunteers at Josephine County Public Health are just some of the workers who risk it all for the safety of us all. A few days back, a group of them headed from Illinois Valley High School, around 160 miles south of Eugene, a city in Oregon, to another clinic in Grants Pass to administer vaccines.
However, the weather was pretty bad and it was snowing heavily, so they found themselves stranded on the Highway 199.
Posted by Josephine County Public Health on Tuesday, 26 January 2021
The vaccines could only be kept for a couple of hours before they could no longer be used. Not wanting for the six leftover Moderna doses to expire, Michael Weber, Josephine County’s public health director, told The Washington Post: “We knew the vaccine would not make it back to Grants Pass. In all likelihood, it was going to expire. I decided to start going door-to-door, car-to-car, offering the vaccine.”
There was also an ambulance on standby for safety.
Posted by Josephine County Public Health on Tuesday, 26 January 2021
In no time, the health workers found six people who were more than happy to finally get the vaccine. Speaking to The New York Times, Weber said: “We had one individual who was so happy, he took his shirt off and jumped out of the car,” and described this operation as one of the coolest he has ever taken part in.
Posted by Josephine County Public Health on Tuesday, 26 January 2021
Christi Siedlecki, one of the twenty health workers spoke to NBC News and said she felt proud seeing her team did all they could in order for the vaccines not to be wasted. “It is important for people to know how dedicated health professionals are to getting every single dose into people. My community should be so proud. I am,” she said.
We are very proud of these people who are taking care of our well-being as well. If it wasn’t for their dedication and hard work, the situation with the pandemic could be much worse than it is already. Doctors and nurses from all around the world, you are our heroes.