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PAGE 2A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021
Federal report links vaccines to
reduction in Georgia COVID cases
By Tim Darnell
Capitol Beat News Service
A new report shows COVID-19 vaccina
tions may have helped prevent roughly 5,100
new COVID-19 infections and 700 deaths
among seniors in Georgia during the first five
months of this year.
The study, conducted by the U.S. Depart
ment of Health and Human Services (HHS),
also found that vaccinations were linked to a
reduction of about 265,000 COVID-19 infec
tions nationally, 107,000 hospitalizations, and
39,000 deaths among Medicare beneficiaries
between January and May 2021.
‘This report reaffirms what we hear rou
tinely from states: COVID-19 vaccines save
lives, prevent hospitalizations, and reduce in
fection,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
More than 352,000 lives were lost during
the first nine months of the COVID-19 pan
demic. Prior to the availability of vaccines,
nearly 80% of these deaths were among
people 65 and older who were also Medicare
eligible.
Between January and May of this year,
when vaccination rates grew from 1% to
47% among adults 18 to 64 and from 1%
to 80% among seniors, the study found an
11% to 12% decrease in weekly COVID-19
hospitalizations and deaths among Medi
care beneficiaries for every 10% increase in
county vaccination rates.
All racial and ethnic groups in 48
states experienced reduced numbers of
COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations, and
infections linked to vaccination rate in
creases. Texas and Hawaii were excluded
from the analysis due to data reporting lim
itations.
The study also found that vaccines were
linked to a reduction of about 5,600 deaths
among nursing home Medicare beneficia
ries, a group that was disproportionately
impacted by the pandemic.
Becerra issued a directive last month au
thorizing all COVID-19 vaccine providers
to make available and administer Pfizer
booster shots to seniors over age 65.
Roundabout on Hwy. 211 opens
Weather permitting, the Georgia De
partment of Transportation (DOT) was
set to open its new roundabout on High
way 211 at Old Hog Mountain Road on
Wednesday, Oct. 6.
The DOT said the project will enhance
safety, reduce crash frequency and sever
ity and improve traffic operations. It will
be designed to accommodate the future
widening of Highway 211 to a four-lane
facility.
The overall project is expected to be
complete in late April 2022.
The roundabout is located at Hwy. 211
at Old Hog Mountain Road and Covered
Bridge Road in Hoschton.
Home heating, water help available for
area seniors, medically homebound
Ninth District Opportunity,
Inc. has announced that home
heating and water assistance
for the elderly and medically
homebound in Banks, Bar-
row, Clarke, Dawson, Elbert,
Forsyth, Franklin, Haber
sham, Hall, Hart. Jackson.
Fumpkin, Madison, Oconee,
Oglethorpe, Rabun, Stephens,
Towns, Union and White
counties will be available in
the coming weeks.
Households in which every
member is age 65 and older or
is medically homebound due
to health reasons may apply
for assistance with their heat
ing and water bills beginning
Nov. 1.
One-time payments will
be made by check, issued to
the home heating and water
suppliers up to $500 each.
Eligibility for the programs
is based on the income of all
household members.
When applying for assis
tance, persons will present
verification of age for every
one in the
home, verification of all
household income received
within the past 30 days
(check stubs, public assis
tance checks, unemployment
checks, etc.); verification of
Social Security numbers for
everyone in the home; verifi
cation of citizenship (driver's
license, state ID. etc.), and the
most recent heating source
and electric bill and water bill.
“Please bring all documen
tation, as we can no longer
obtain the information for
you,” Ninth District officials
said in a news release.
All eligible applicants are
asked to contact Ninth District
Opportunity, Inc.’s scheduling
system Nov. 1, beginning at
12:01 a.m„ by telephone at
855-636-3108, or go online
to www.ndo.org/eaD. Phone
lines and website for schedul
ing will not be active until the
opening date of the program,
and no appointments will be
made by telephone or online
until that time, according to
the release. No walk-ins will
be allowed. Appointments
will be scheduled until all
funds are exhausted.
Additional information will
be made available online at
www.ndo.org.
Only households 65 years
of age and older or medical
ly homebound may apply in
November. Applicants that do
not meet the required criteria
will be denied. The general
public may apply starting on
Dec. 1.
Ninth District Opportunity,
Inc. is an equal opportunity
agency while providing ser
vices without regard to age,
race, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, disability, nation
al origin, or any other classifi
cation or category.
Statham continued from 1A
While there did not appear to be any
groundswell of opposition to a millage rate
increase on the council at its September
work session, councilman Dwight McCor-
mic said he was concerned about the pro
posed increase and that the city should be
taking a closer, “objective” look at where it
spends money and needs it the most.
Workers continued from 1A
A Braselton nurse sus
tained multiple injuries
from a vicious attack that
took five nurses and three
security guards to stop. The
nurse, identifying herself as
only Destiny, recently testi
fied about the experience in
front of a state Senate study
committee commissioned to
investigate the problem.
Jemigan, a nurse for near
ly 30 years, called the attack
“probably the worst that I
have personally witnessed
in my career.” She explained
the effect these incidents of
violence have on health-care
workers whom often enter
the profession to help others
but are feeling overwhelmed
by enduring these abuses.
“And when people are not
only not grateful, but attack
ing for what you're trying
to do to help them, it does
kind of give you a feeling of
doubt, that maybe you’re not
doing the right thing,” she
said. “ ... When your em
ployees feel that way, they
have more of a tendency to
call in or perhaps leave the
profession in general.”
The pandemic has only
served to exacerbate these
occurrences of violence in
health-care settings. Patients
are said to be increasingly
confused and upset and lash
ing out. Verbal assaults are
quickly turning physical.
Dr. Mohak Dave, North
east Georgia Health System
chief of emergency medi
cine. remembers the wave
of support hospital workers
received at the start of the
coronavirus pandemic 18
months ago. But he feels
that's largely been lost as
health-care workers increas
ingly come into harm's way.
“The commitment that
health-care workers have is
stronger than ever, but peo
ple are also drained,” said
Dave, who serves on the
senate committee studying
violence against health-care
workers. “We've lost staff
because of the pandemic,
and they may never come
back into health care, so
our resources are even more
taxed than where we were
when we started this.”
Deborah Bailey, executive
director of government af
fairs for Northeast Georgia
Health System, said health
care workers have largely
accepted abuses, in their var
ious forms, as part of the job.
But the problem has grown
to the point where enough is
enough, she said.
“These are kind, compas
sionate people ... we have
allowed this to continue to
escalate to the point that we
realize we can't do this any
more,” said Bailey, who also
testified in front of the Sen
ate committee. “We have to
find a way to help our staff
recognize this is not accept
able, and it can't keep occur
ring.”
OLD PROBLEM
TAKES NEW ROOTS
WITH PANDEMIC
While abuse against
health-care workers isn't a
new problem, there’s been
an increase in this violence
last few years, according to
NGHS officials interviewed.
The abuses are verbal, phys
ical and sexual, and happen
across all areas of heath care,
not just the emergency room.
The pandemic has fueled
an uptick in cases as people
are becoming more easily
agitated.
Increased wait times, in
ability to get testing, con
flicts regarding vaccinations
and mask-wearing and mis
information on social me
dia have all contributed to
patients lashing out more
frequently at health-care
workers.
“There’s a lot of angst
around the different require
ments that are related to
managing the pandemic,”
Dave said.
One of the more alarming
trends is how quickly these
incidents turn violent.
“Those verbal alterca
tions are escalating faster
into physical (altercations),
and the data suggests that
our de-escalation tactics are
required now at a higher de
gree than they have been in
the past,” said Kevin Mat-
son, NGHS vice president
of facilities and support ser
vices who oversees the secu
rity staff.
Meanwhile, health-care
workers are largely reluctant
to report abuses. According
to Bailey, 75% of instances
of violence against health
care workers go unreported.
Jemigan said health care
workers have largely viewed
the abuse they suffer as a
job hazard of dealing with
patients who are often con
fused or perhaps unaware of
their actions.
“We just kind of felt that
just came with the territory,
which I think goes to why so
many of these things are un
derreported,” she said. “Be
cause where do you draw the
line with intent? It’s still the
same act whether someone
pinches you or yells at you,
whether they’re confused or
not, it's the same act.”
Jemigan said often times
employees leave health-care
jobs for reasons unknown.
These departures could be
related to those unvoiced ex
periences of abuse.
“You may never know if
they were victimized,” she
said. “You just don't know
because they don't share that
and they don't report it.”
Jemigan said she's been
subjected to verbal abuse
throughout her career and
some physical abuse, too,
“but not to the extent of what
happened on the Braselton
campus.”
Bailey no longer works as
a nurse but said she certainly
experienced abuse earlier in
her career when she func
tioned in that role. She re
members not reporting those
incidents, too.
“And that's something that
I would change, too, today,”
she said.
Dave, too, said he's ex
perienced both verbal and
physical attacks but makes
an important distinction: the
vast majority of health care
workers are female. Women
are being subjected to vio
lence in health-care settings
much more often than men.
“So, I’m well-aware of
numerous instances of phy
sicians, nurses and others
that are female that it’s im
pacted greater than males,”
Dave said.
DE-ESCALATING
CONFLICTS
With the rise in violence.
Northeast Georgia Health
System has sought to equip
its employees with skills to
help counter it.
Classes that teach self-de
fense and verbal de-escala
tion tactics are available and
encouraged. These classes
have been offered for years
but are now offered more
frequently given the violent
trends in health-care set
tings.
Using a tug-of-war anal
ogy, Maston said one of the
major de-escalation tactics
preached is “don’t pick up
the rope.”
“We want to avoid that,”
he said. “As the patient or
visitor challenges us, we
want to find a way not to
challenge them back, but
talk them down.”
‘I THINK PEOPLE
ARE SHOCKED TO
HEAR THIS’
Northeast Georgia Health
System officials applauded
the formation of a Senate
study group on health-care
violence as a positive step
to address a long-standing
problem and to inform the
public.
Dave said it's not enough
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to have penalties for vio
lence committed. The root
of the issue must be ex
plored to explain the dispar
ities in health care driving
this increase.
“This is a symptom of a
disease, and I think the com
mittee has heard a lot of in
formation thus far to look at
how we can treat this condi
tion which is putting health
care workers and patients at
risk,” he said.
The process will also
educate the public, which
is largely unaware of the
problem, Jemigan said. The
longtime nurse said she's
encouraged that the word
about health-care worker
abuse is “finally getting out
there.”
“I think people are
shocked to hear this,” she
said. “I think they don't re
ally realize how prevalent it
is.”
Bailey said informing
the public is a big first step
in addressing the problem.
Coupled with a focus on
health-care workers report
ing all instances of violence,
the hope is a strong no-toler
ance message is being sent.
“We're going to support
them and encourage them
in every way,” Bailey said,
“and it's not going to be
acceptable for our public to
come in and do this to our
staff.”
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2348
2152
(1)
Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid
129
111
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Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid
distribution above nominal rate, advertiser's proof copies, and exchange copies)
1499
1301
the Mail) (3)
Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers,
480
510
Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS
(e g.. First-Class Mail®)
c Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1). (2). (3), and (4)) ^
2108
1922
d ^ o e ®° r a| (1)
Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies included on PS Form 3541
6
5
Distribution (2)
(By Mail
Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541
10
11
Utetlail) (3>
Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS
(4)
Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mai, (earners or other means,
50
50
e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of I5d (1), (2), (3) and (4))
66
66
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2174
1988
Copio. not Distributed ,S« on. . R-St-S « W m ►
90
110
h. Total (Sum of 15f and g)
2264
2098
(15c divided by 15f times 100) ►
97%
97%
16. Electronic Copy Circulation
Each Issue During
Preceding 12 Months
No. Copies of Single
Nearest to Filing Date
a. Paid Electronic Copies ^
22
22
b. Total Paid Print Copies (Line 15c) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a) ^
2130
1944
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2196
2010
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97%
97%
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(including civil penalties).
PS Form 3526, July 2014