Jordan Laird DDN

Exciting career news: this is my last 1/2 week with the Dayton Daily News. Next week, I start work at The Columbus Dispatch as a courts and crime enterprise reporter. I’m grateful The Dispatch is trusting me with such an important beat in the Midwest’s second largest city.

I intend to work hard at The Dispatch to hold criminal justice institutions accountable. I will serve as a watchdog on the Franklin County and federal courts.

I must say I will miss reporting on the Gem City and all the amazing journalists at the DDN who I learned so much from. I leave the Miami Valley in capable hands.

I am departing the Dayton Daily on the best of terms. I would highly recommend working at Cox Enterprises newspapers in Ohio.

From my newsletter today:
After over two years of updating you on COVID‑19, testing, vaccines, hospital capacity and the pandemic’s human toll, the Dayton Daily News is pressing pause on this weekly newsletter. Today’s letter will be our last update, at least for a while we hope.

Nobody can say for certain whether the pandemic is over, but things are looking good in the Dayton region.

Hospitals in the west central Ohio region, which includes Dayton, saw their coronavirus hospitalizations peak earlier this year on Jan. 24 at 652 patients. For the past week, area hospitalizations for COVID‑19 have hovered around 10 patients, with zero in the intensive care unit and zero on ventilators.

Coronavirus hospitalizations in the southwest Ohio region, which includes Butler and Warren counties, have come down from over 1,000 patients at its peak to fewer than 90.

“This is a much less stressful time inside the walls of our hospitals,” said Sarah Hackenbracht, president of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association. “There is a sense of overall relief.”

Still, BA.2, a subvariant of omicron, is spreading across the United States. While nobody is sure how much damage it will cause, Ohio health experts said last week BA.2 was unlikely to produce a large surge here.

Health experts continue to strongly recommend coronavirus vaccines.

“Don’t wait for that next surge to hit. Get vaccinated for what’s next,” said Chris Cook, Clark County assistant health commissioner, last week. “Boosters continue to be safe and effective and, frankly, they can still be the deciding factor between a mild illness and being on a (ventilator).”

Don’t worry, the Dayton Daily News will track BA.2 and continue to cover the coronavirus pandemic and its fallout. And we’ll revive this newsletter if COVID‑19 flares back up.

Dearest readers, it has been my privilege to address this missive directly to you each week. I’ll leave you with this: listen to the health professionals, please get vaccinated, get your booster and keep your face masks in your back pocket.

And be kind, because this has been a punishing two‑plus years, to say the least.

📸 Photo credit: Jim Noelker

"Everything is expensive, or you can’t find it," said Sofi Kinde, owner of Nanyea, a struggling Ethiopian restaurant in northern Dayton.

Two years after shutdown, restaurant industry still fragile After a rollercoaster couple of years, the Ohio restaurant industry remains fragile, handicapped by inflated food prices, supply chain shortages and lingering staffing issues.

What do New Lebanon and West Dayton have in common? They’re the Montgomery County communities least vaccinated against COVID. We talked to residents about why and what might get more people vaccinated.

LISTEN: Podcast goes to the least vaccinated Dayton-area communities In the latest episode of The Path Forward Dayton, a Dayton Daily News podcast, reporters visit the ZIP codes in Montgomery County that are least vaccinated against COVID-19 and thus most vulnerable to the virus.

Wide gulfs exist in COVID vaccination rates across our Dayton region. ZIP codes range from below 30% to 79% vaccinated, leaving some areas more vulnerable.
There are disparities by race, poverty, educational attainment and urban vs. rural.
w/ Josh Sweigart DDN

https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/vaccination-gaps-why-some-local-areas-are-3-times-higher-others-lag/5HVFZPTXCJHVNNK3VENKAROORQ/

Vaccination gaps: Why some local areas are 3 times higher, others lag Wide gulfs exist in COVID-19 vaccination rates across Southwest Ohio — the rates in some communities are more than three times higher than others, a Dayton Daily News investigation found — exposing many long-term disparities and undermining efforts to end the pandemic.

The record number of coronavirus patients crushing Dayton-area hospitals has consequences for everyone’s health care.

Care delayed for many as COVID patients, mostly unvaccinated, flood hospitals Miamisburg-resident Sara Larrick has coped with pain for more than six months, but the relief she was relying on has been postponed as local hospitals are too full with COVID patients, most of them unvaccinated.

We are seeking to talk to more people whose lives have been affected by COVID. That covers a lot: if you’ve been hospitalized or have a close family member who has been, parented a young child who can’t get vaccinated yet, juggled working from home while managing remote learning, struggled with ongoing isolation. Fill out the form below to share your story. Or contact reporter Jordan Laird at [email protected] or by phone at (937) 701-4818.

How has COVID impacted your life? Tell us your story If you have been impacted by the pandemic, the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and JournalNews want to talk to you. We want to tell your story.

Below our graph includes our COVID-related data from the past week. To view additional historical numbers and chart definitions visit our dashboard at: https://www.childrensdayton.org/coviddashboard

Big takeaways:
→ The strong community spread continues to grow, which is shown by the increase in positive test rates and COVID positive hospitalizations. Please do all you can to continue to protect yourself and others.

→ Since the pandemic began, this is the hardest hit that our pediatric population has been in terms of hospitalizations of COVID positive patients.

ICYMI, here’s my Sunday piece: COVID is at its worst. Mask mandates aren’t coming back. Why?

Vaccine push has taken the place of health orders at the state level. About 40% of Ohioans remain unvaccinated and daily first shots have slowed to a trickle.

COVID is at its worst. Mask mandates aren’t coming back. Why? Elected leaders could bring back mask mandates — and some public health experts say they should — but that’s unlikely.

Give blood and get a chance to win a pair of tickets to the Bengals vs. Raiders playoff game on Saturday! Everyone who registers to donate now through Friday will be automatically entered in a drawing to win two free tickets.

Schedule an appointment online at www.DonorTime.com or call (937) 461-3220.

Unvaccinated patients accounted for more than five of every six COVID-related deaths in local hospitals over the past 28 days. Please get your COVID-19 vaccination or booster shot.

Dayton-area residents, in recent weeks, have you waited a long time at an emergency room or urgent care, been unable to get a doctor’s appointment, had a surgery or procedure canceled or otherwise had trouble getting care in a timely manner?
Email me at [email protected] or fill out this survey.

Health care system overwhelmed; have you had trouble getting care? Tell us if you've had problems getting health care recently in the Dayton-Springfield-Butler County areas.

*If your elective procedure at Kettering Health has been canceled, email me at [email protected].

“We are at a very, very dangerous place as it relates to COVID-19 and its impact on normal medical care as we know it." said Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association President Sarah Hackenbracht. "When people hear the terminology elective procedures, everyone immediately assumes that these are things that are not medically necessary, when in fact, they are very much medically necessary procedures.”

That could include someone who is waiting on a hip or a knee replacement and is living with significant pain, she said, but that is not something that has to be taken care of in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Kettering Health postpones elective procedures amid record COVID hospitalizations Kettering Health Network has postponed nonemergency, elective surgeries and procedures that require an overnight stay due to the strain of record high COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Having trouble getting tested for COVID? I‘d love to speak with you for a story I’m writing. Email me: [email protected]

Some local families are reassessing their Christmas plans at the last minute in light of recent news about omicron and record high COVID-19 cases in Ohio, and local experts shared some tips for making gatherings safer.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/omicron-has-people-reassessing-holiday-plans-heres-what-local-experts-say/WORRIFIUNVCETALS5LCCYAQK2A/

Omicron has people reassessing holiday plans; here’s what local experts say Some local families are reassessing their Christmas plans at the last minute in light of recent news about omicron and record high COVID-19 cases in Ohio, and local experts shared some tips for making gatherings safer.

News pouring in about the omicron variant and soaring hospitalizations in Ohio right before Christmas has my family reassessing plans, especially including vulnerable members. Is this causing you and yours to doubt, reassess, change plans? Have you struggled to find at-home rapid tests? (Like I did when I visited 5 stores before finding any this weekend) Email: [email protected].

Early studies indicate booster doses for all adults could be crucial to combat omicron. What are your questions about COVID-19 booster shots?

Akron General Hospital using refrigerated truck to expand morgue facilities due to COVID-19, non-COVID-19 patient surge The refrigerated trailer has been on site since early December.

What do you think? I wanted a gem to be involved.

City of Dayton reveals new flag The City of Dayton has unveiled its new flag.

Do you have a loved one in a nursing home in the Dayton area? What is the visitation policy like now? And what is the staffing level like; is your loved one waiting a long time for care? Email me at [email protected].

Here's my weekly COVID newsletter message from today. Don't forget to sign up to get the update in your inbox every Thursday with all the most important local and national pandemic news.
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Saturday will mark one year since U.S. regulators approved use of a COVID-19 vaccine, a key step in the fight to save lives and end this pandemic.

Locally, it is now easy to get a free, safe and effective COVID vaccine (plus a $100 gift card in recent months). I spoke with many of our area county health commissioners this week. After doing so much to make the vaccine easily accessible, they are frustrated by the significant block of staunch holdouts who haven’t gotten the shot yet. In our region, a little over half of residents are fully vaccinated.

“We're a little bit stumped about what to do next,” Clark County Health Commissioner Charles Patterson said. “Social media, politics and just overall skepticism of the government has led to an unprecedented vaccine hesitancy, which has been very, very difficult to overcome.”

This Sunday, you can read more about where our region stands with getting the vaccine. Significant divides exist: rural counties lag more urban and suburban counties; men lag women; Black people lag white and Asian people; and younger people lag older people.

On this anniversary, it’s a time to reflect on how far we have to go, but it’s also a time to celebrate what the vaccines have given us. These shots have saved lives, made a return to in-person school less risky for kids and teachers, and allowed us to meet with vaccinated family and friends again more safely.

Dr. Jeremy Moore, emergency department medical director at Miami Valley Hospital North, was one of the first area residents to get the federally approved vaccine when he got the shot on Dec. 22, 2020. He said he felt relieved and hopeful last year.

"It's given me peace of mind over the last year," he said. "My family is all vaccinated. It's a lot less likely that someone that I love and care for will require hospitalization or die from COVID … While (our vaccination rate locally) is promising, I think we definitely need to do better."

This was 1 year, 8 months ago. Feels like a lifetime ago. I'm writing about the 'pandemic fatigue' people are feeling heading into another year with COVID and in the face of a scary new variant. Local and have something to say? Email: [email protected]

DEWINE & AMY OPENING THEME Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has been holding daily press conferences along with his director of the Ohio Department of Health Dr. Amy Acton since mid-March 202...

Ohio experts are forecasting we are at the beginning of another surge in COVID-19 this winter, although vaccines will likely mean fewer hospitalizations and deaths than last year and the brunt of it will be borne by unvaccinated people.

Another winter surge of COVID-19 predicted in Ohio Will winter bring another surge of COVID-19 to the Dayton region and Ohio?

From our voices section:
When the City of Dayton asked citizens how to spend $138 million from the American Rescue Plan, housing was the second most mentioned category (76% of respondents). But the city moved to allocate 5% of the $138 million to housing. Eric W. Farrell, the C.E.O. of the Home Builders Association of Dayton, argues city officials need to stand up for housing and create more opportunities for homeownership.

VOICES: We must do better on housing in Dayton Eric W. Farrell, C.E.O. of the Home Builders Association of Dayton, on why he believes the City of Dayton should use ARPA funding to address the housing crisis.

86% of patients hospitalized locally for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. If you are not vaccinated already, getting your first dose this week provides the opportunity for full vaccination by Christmas!

WATCH: Dayton Daily News Community Conversation on COVID vaccines for children The hour-long live discussion included trusted, local experts digging into the facts about the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

How protected are partially vaccinated kids? Experts answer some frequently asked questions about celebrating the holidays this year safely amid a pandemic.

Vaccines make gathering for Thanksgiving safe this year for most, experts say Kelly Watts recently bought a doormat for her Dayton front porch that says, “Welc- hold on, are you vaccinated?”

Send me your questions.

Community Conversations: Learn about the COVID-19 vaccine for young children On Wednesday, Nov. 17, the Dayton Daily News will host a live discussion with trusted, local experts digging into the facts about the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

Thea Schickel, 6, described life during the pandemic as “boring” and getting the shot as “cool.” The Dayton resident said she wasn’t scared, and she felt good afterward.

Families looking forward to end of pandemic at Dayton Children’s COVID vaccine clinic More than 100 kids were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Monday night at Dayton Children’s Hospital’s first clinic for kids 5 years and older.

Children 5 years and older can now get Pfizer’s two-dose coronavirus vaccine.

Where can kids get the COVID vaccine in the Dayton-Springfield region? Here are some of the clinics where parents can get their child vaccinated in the greater Dayton area.

Dayton puts a dozen employees on leave for refusing testing The city has a policy requiring either COVID vaccination or weekly testing.

By Eileen McClory DDN

Jan. 4 vaccine deadline for large companies: Here’s what local, state leaders are saying OSHA says the rule will cover more than 80 million employees and will prevent over 250,000 workers from being hospitalized with COVID-19.

From my weekly newsletter on coronavirus (make sure to subscribe before next Thursday!):

Here’s why vaccines can’t cause problems years later

In the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine trial of over 2,5000 children ages 5 to 11, no serious side effects were detected. Some kids had mild injection site pain or fatigue after the shot, similar to adults. The FDA required two months of safety data.

Lately, lots of parents have been asking me some version of this question: How can I be sure this vaccine won’t cause a harmful side effect years later?

It seemed like a reasonable question to me. Dr. Robert Frenck Jr., the director of vaccine research at Cincinnati Children’s, has also gotten this question a lot. And at first, he was puzzled by it.

“Because it’s not a question I usually hear with vaccines,” he said. “And then I thought about it, and I think this is what is prompting that question: When you take, say you have diabetes, or you have asthma or you have high blood pressure, something like that, a medicine that you’re taking every day, it’s possible that over time that you do get an accumulation of the medication so that you can have side effects that start months or years maybe down the line. But that’s not what we see with a vaccine.”

Frenck explained to me that vaccines (coronavirus and other vaccines) cannot cause side effects years later. Unlike medicines we take daily, vaccines don’t stay in our bodies very long. In the case of the Pfizer vaccine for coronavirus, the mRNA it contains is broken down by enzymes within days. Therefore, if somebody is going to have a negative reaction to a vaccine, not just a coronavirus vaccine, it’s going to happen soon after getting the shot.

“If you’re going to have a side effect, it’s going to happen within the first six to eight weeks,” Frenck said. “You don’t get symptoms that start two, six or 12 months down the line. If there’s going to be things with the vaccine, they happen early on.”

That is why experts, including our federal regulators and scores of health care professionals, believe it is safe to give a shot without safety data spanning years.

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Have a question about the vaccine?

For Sunday, I’m writing an article answering parents’ questions about the risks and benefits of the coronavirus vaccine for children.

If you still have questions about the shot, talk to a medical professional you trust or send them to me. The Dayton Daily News has assembled a panel of local experts to answer readers’ questions about all things pandemic‑related. We will publish responses to some questions at least weekly.

US mandates vaccines or tests for big companies by Jan. 4 Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government rules issued Thursday.

The vaccine was just approved for kids 5-11 by the CDC.

COVID-19 vaccinations for kids: Here’s where the shots will be available The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to approve Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 on Tuesday or Wednesday, and shots could get into those young arms locally by midweek.

The coronavirus vaccine could be authorized by federal health authorities for young children as early as next week.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/tell-us-will-you-get-your-young-kid-the-covid-vaccine/IJPVUJDVLZBKHC6CAXJLM4NR5U/

Tell us: Will you get your young kid the COVID vaccine? If the CDC approves the shot for young children, will you get your child vaccinated? Take our survey.

Ahead of the coronavirus vaccine’s likely authorization for young children next week, Dayton Children’s Hospital is hosting two virtual events where parents will be able to ask the hospital’s chief medical officer about the shot.

Dayton Children’s expert to answer parents questions about COVID-19 vaccine