Originally published on Dent County Health Center’s Facebook Page on Monday, August 9th, 2021.
Hello and thanks for listening to this COVID-19 Update. My name is Zach Moser, and I’m the administrator at the Dent County Health Center. I’m coming to you today because I am deeply concerned for the health of our community. The delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout our county. Since I took over as administrator three weeks ago, there have been over 280 new cases of COVID-19 and the number of active cases has more than tripled. During this period, we have added 7 unofficial deaths as well.
The delta variant of COVID-19 is much more contagious than the original strain that we first encountered almost 18 months ago. A person infected with “original” COVID would infect about 2 people on average, but someone with delta can infect four or five people on average. Studies have shown that the viral load – or the number of copies of the virus in the body – is 1000 times greater in people infected with Delta compared to regular Covid. The good news is that the delta variant does not seem to be any more deadly than regular Covid.
Because it is more contagious, we are seeing more breakthrough cases in vaccinated individuals. These cases are mild, but we believe that vaccinated people may still be able to transmit the delta variant to others, especially the unvaccinated.
Your chances of contracting COVID depend on the AMOUNT of viral particles you are exposed to. Breathing in one or two viral particles will not infect you, but breathing in hundreds of thousands most certainly will, even if you are vaccinated. Just as with a medication, the dose makes the poison. Two tablets of Tylenol can make your headache go away, but 10 tablets can shut down your liver. COVID is no different.
This is why masking is so important. Masks do not block out 100% of viral particles, but they don’t need to in order to be effective. Masks catch the vast majority of viral particles and slow the rest from floating freely across the room. Since the “dose makes the poison,” masks can reduce the virus enough to prevent infecting yourself or others.
America is the land of the free, and our liberty is engrained into our way of life and our identities. Keeping with that, I will NOT be advocating for a mask mandate in our county. However, I urge you to consider wearing a mask whenever you are indoors with anyone who is not your immediate family, regardless of your vaccination status. If you’re unsure, then I ask you to pray about it, meditate about it, or research it, whatever works for you. If you personally aren’t worried about catching COVID, then consider masking for your children, or your grandparents, or others in your life who are at high risk.
Also, I humbly ask you to consider vaccination if you have not already. Only 25% of Dent Countians have at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, which is not nearly enough to slow the spread on its own. We rank towards the bottom in the state and nationally for vaccination status. Even though the vaccines will not prevent 100% of COVID-19 cases, they are very effective at keeping you from being hospitalized or dying.
When I worked as an ICU pharmacist at Lake Regional in Osage Beach, I personally saw how effective vaccines could be. None of our patients who died from COVID while I was there were vaccinated. In addition, I never saw any patients who had to be hospitalized or die from the vaccine. While the vaccine is not without risks, the vaccine is much safer than COVID itself.
At the Health Center, we have both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Everyone ages 12 and up is eligible. If you aren’t already vaccinated, call us today at 729-3106 or schedule online at dentcountyhealthcenter.com.
I am committed to stamping out our invisible enemy, the nickname President Trump gave to COVID. It’s hard to fight what you can’t see, but if we join together as a community, we can beat this. By wearing masks while indoors, moving activity outdoors when possible, and by getting vaccinated, we can eliminate this threat and return to a true sense of normalcy.
If you have questions about masking, the vaccine, or COVID in general, please feel free to call us at 729-3106, message us on facebook, visit our website, or email us at dentcountyhealthcenter@outlook.com. You may also wish to discuss with one of our local healthcare providers at Salem Memorial District Hospital, Phelps Health, or Mercy Clinic, or with a pharmacist at Sinks, Vandivorts, Walmart, or Moser Pharmacies. If it is a matter of faith, please consult with your clergymen in your church.
Thank you for listening. Help us get the word out by liking and sharing this video.
