JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Dr. Lionel Fraser, Medical Director at Central Mississippi Health Services, said after nearly two years of a continuous fight against COVID-19, the medical staff is struggling.
“Our staff is fatigued, tired. It has a pervasive effect on moral, but everyday we get up, we come to work, we put one foot in front of the other and try and put one more needle in an arm to help protect us all,” said Fraser.
Since the start of the pandemic, healthcare workers have worked around the clock to test and care for those who contracted COVID-19.
“Initially, we were testing people in the rain, the snow, the cold, the ice with this facility that were standing by,” said Fraser.
Fast forward, vaccines are now available, but there are new COVID strains. Healthcare workers said now the battle is getting shots in the arms.
“Forty-eight percent of us as Mississippians are fully vaccinated and about 27% of us have had boosters and that’s woefully low and we need to do better,” said Fraser.
“Most of our pushback would be still some of the younger folks in their early/late 20s that still have the idea of, if you stick me, that’s how they’re going to track me, or I’m scared with what they see on the TV about the needles. We want you to be comfortable getting the vaccine not scare or nervous about getting the vaccine,” said Clinical Coordinator Sharon Ivory.
Leaders with the clinic said most of the patients coming in for COVID vaccines are those who are receiving their boosters. With the Omicron variant on the rise, they hope more will come in for their first or second dose.