By Sam Nickels, OCP exec. director

On February 16th, 15 OCP staff and about 12 regular volunteers, many in high-risk categories, received our first COVID vaccination shots. Despite fears and trepidation, everyone took the shot. Afterwards, we were elated and joking around as we waited during the post watch-for-allergic-reaction period. We were elated in part because our vaccination date had already been postponed twice! 

We worked hard to implement COVID protocols, and during 2020 we had no (zero!) positive cases among OCP staff or volunteers, that we’re aware of. In January we had our first two cases among staff, but none since then. And now we’re vaccinated! A special thank you to our City disaster coordinators and the VA Dept of Health for their hard work! 

Many of our community members are followers of social media news, and some have bought into the myths around the vaccines. Several homeless folks at Open Doors refused to get vaccinated when it was offered on the same day OCP staff got ours. To help people decide whether or not to take the vaccine, with the help of Suzi, I created a YouTube video with lots of info and a couple stories. Feel free to pass it on to others who are struggling with this question.