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AIRPORT V 2 OICE, JANUARY 2021
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Jeff Yapalater
516-425-4645
Dr. Fauci answers vaccine questions
Lots of “ifs” based on public response.
Will there be mandatory
vaccines. He did not think
this was likely to see a federal
government mandate.
Our federal government does
not like to mandate. There are
certain places such as travel
and healthcare that might.
But without the mandate hospitals,
healthcare workers
and people facing the public
care are well into the process
of getting vaccinated. which is
a better way to go.
When can I get vaccine
He said that there are priority
groups that are receiving
first at 3ver expandind vaccine
centers. Now NY group 1b
is in place for people over 65,
transit ( airport) workers and
public-facing workers now eligible
for the vaccine. The second
dosage stock house will
be released to accelerate all
groups to receive the vaccine.
He hopes by end of March into
April priority groups will be
vaccinated then anyone of age
can get vaccinated.
Distribution delay of vaccines
He said the criticism of
being behind announced distribution
schedules is due to a
whole new vaccine as well an
unprecedented distribution
plans. There are always bumps
in the road to get a new vaccine
in distribution given the specific
transportation and temperature
requirements.
Is one vaccine better
than another? No, both Pfizer
and Moderna are messenger
RNA with the 94-95% efficacy
rate essentially the same.
Household virus If one
household member tests positive,
then housemates should
distance, wear masks at home
and get tested a 3-5 days later
to make sure no one else carries
the infection.
Allergic reactions-There
have been some allergic reactions
after getting a shot. The
allergic reactions have not
been common in the 4-5 million
doses given. People receiving
the vaccine are mandated
to sit 15 minutes in the
vaccine facility to watch for
any reactions.
Concerns over speed of
development- Because of the
spectacular increases in vaccine
technology we have been
able to create safe and effective
Covid vaccines. There
were enormous amounts of
money put into development
and there were not cutting
corners. There were over
70,000 in the Pfizer and Moderna
standard vaccine trials.
Half-dose efficacy No
scientific basis that proves a
half-dose is better to get than
nothing. He said better to follow
the program and to take
the first dose then the second
3 weeks later.
Should we wear masks
after vaccination Fauci says
emphatically, Yes. Yes, wear
masks until the overwhelming
majority 75-85% of population
is vaccinated then the
herd immunity will kick in.
This will take many months
to vaccine enough people to
get to herd immunity. The
combination of the vaccine
and wearing masks will bring
the vaccine to a low level of
spreading.
When we will be back to
normalcy? If vaccinations go
as planned, and we see continued
serious preventive behavior,
we could see a greater
degree of eating out, sports,
theater and gatherings by the
end of fall 2021.
These questions and answers
were fro a recent televised
interview with Dr.Fauci
in early January. There are a
lot of “ifs” in his remarks but
everything is conditional on
testing, vaccines, distribution
and public cooperation.
Airport Clergy Blesses Airports
LGA, EWR receive benedictions
Both JFK and LaGuardia
held their annual airport
blessings last week.
LGA GM Tony Vero, JFK
GM Charles Everett, Rabbi
Kanelsky, Rabbi Korenblit,
Father Piasta and Pastor Dabee
participated in individual
airport virtual events. Both
Vero and Everett wished everyone
a healthy new year
and spoke positively on what
lays ahead for 2021 and about
the resiliency of the stakeholders
and mission of each
airport to continue to move
forward to world class transportation
centers.
Vero reflected on the uncertainty,
fear and isolation
we all felt in 2020. Planes
stopped flying and it was a
year of belt tightening. But he
said the spirit of “yes we can”
dominated LGA.
Everett spoke of the dedication
of all the workers, and
how everyone professionally
kept the region moving. He
thanked the clergy for their
blessing and said “ Our chapels
make JFK unique in
the world. With faith and belief
we will move forward in
2021.”
Rabbi Kanelsky spoke
to the JFK community and
Rabbi Korenblit spoke to the
JFK Community. But the
unity of their remarks were
universal for all airports. He
spoke about the need to take
a minute a day to reflect silently
to thank God for the
life we have every day. He
said we are call connected in
different places, just like the
virtual blessing, and to have
the goal of unity and that “
spiritually we all remain together.”
Rabbi Korenblit drew his
inspiration from Honey saying
that the New Year is celebrated
with honey because
Honey lasts forever citing the
finds of honey hundreds if not
thousands years old in excavations
“ as sweet as ever.” He
hoped that we all could find
Honey from the vents of 2020
and use it to sweeten 2021.
Reverend Pastor spoke to
both airports about the importance
of breathing. He referred
to a book he is reading
during the recent months and
the importance of also taking
time to reflect on learning
about ourselves during these
moments of conscious breathing
and how to measure our
breath. He offered a challenge
this year, for everyone to set
aside one minute and simply
breath and concentrate on
this, breath of life. “Breath in
the breath of God. Exhale and
think of being grateful for
that breath.”
He also mentioned the anniversary
of the Miracle of
the Hudson saying that small
and large miracles still happen
and thanked God for
more small miracles in 2021.
Father Chris Piasta invoked
the story of the Great
Flood and ow Noah releases
both a Raven and Dove to see
what the landscape was after
the 40 days of rain. The Raven
was more of a scavenger
but the Dove was more of an
insightful creature and flew
around eventually returning
with an Olive branch. This
Dove branch now symbolizes
peace and hope. As a people
we need to play the part of the
Dove in 2021 in the airports
and become ambassadors of
these qualities in 2021. He
said we need to weather the
storms and difficulties and
to become true signs of hope
and peace wherever we find
ourselves.