She said the risk of COVID-19 is still out there.
Frederick, MD (KB) The key to ending the pandemic is to get people vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s according to Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner.
“We had a goal to try to get enough people vaccinated that the COVID-19 virus would be tamped down and the spread would be much lower so that we could move back into a more normal life activities and have events to celebrate the Fourth of July,” she said.
Gardner said people are happy to be able to get out again and do things they weren’t able to do for an extended period of time.
Gardner noted a few things she thought the county handled well throughout the pandemic.
“I think we pivoted throughout the pandemic to try to adjust to make sure that we could provide services to people,” she explained. “I think that things that we did right were standing up the call center and our vaccination efforts.”
She continued, “Part of what I think that I would have liked to have been able to improve to people was our ability to communicate. Unfortunately, many people do not read local papers anymore and they get their news through sources that may be unreliable.”
Gardner said she does not think we are out of the woods yet and that the risk of COVID-19 is still out there.
“We still have a few cases a day that are reported, which again, it’s low, and we do have some people hospitalized, again, very low,” she said. “Certainly there is risk for unvaccinated people.”
Gardner encouraged residents who have not yet been vaccinated to do so.
“It really will help us to make sure that we do not have another surge of COVID, and certainly the county is still offering our vaccination clinics which people can find on our webpage,” she said.
Frederick County has reported that 56% of the population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.