Year 2 of pandemic included vaccines, uncertainty
Following coronavirus developments through 2021 was like riding a roller coaster.
Maybe it wasn't the highest or fastest in the amusement park — that honor belongs to 2020 — but it was possibly the one with the most twists and turns.
This year began with cautious optimism after December 2020 saw the release of a COVID-19 vaccine.
On Feb. 4, when vaccine providers worked as quickly as possible to administer second doses, five Butler County residents were reported by the state Department of Health to have died from COVID-19 the previous day.
On March 14, members of the first family in Butler to get a confirmed case of COVID-19 in 2020 recalled their early struggle with the virus with the Eagle.
Al and Rita Lane were quick to recognize they were infected, but didn't realize they would be the first in Butler County.
Funeral homes had adapted to the pandemic throughout 2020 after handling more deaths than in previous years and adjusted in 2021 to accommodate crowd guidelines and social distancing.
In early-April, Middlesex firefighter Greg Vickinovac had recovered from his February case of COVID-19 and shared his experience of being put on a ventilator for treatment. It was a “fight for his life” he said he wouldn't wish on anyone.
A short time later, Butler Health System opened a vaccine clinic at the Clearview Mall, which increased the number of vaccines it could administer in the county.
Pennsylvanians could breathe a (masked) sigh of relief May 5, when Gov. Tom Wolf vowed to lift pandemic mitigation orders on May 31.
On May 15, their relief rose to a crescendo when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that fully vaccinated people could stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and at most indoor settings.The CDC's guidelines still called for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings such as buses, planes, hospitals and prisons, but the relaxed rules helped clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools and other venues.On May 28, the state's acting secretary of health, Alison Beam, said the mask mandate would be lifted by June 28 or when 70% of all adults in the state received their second vaccine doses, and cited vaccination data showing 52.7% of the 18-years-and-older population were fully vaccinated and 97.7% of people over age 65 had received at least one dose of vaccine.Reported on July 8, Butler County followed suit as the county commissioners rescinded the emergency resolution initially put in place March 18, 2020.Later that month, county health providers and educators confronted a nursing shortage hitting the nation.On Aug. 18, a booster shot vaccine dose was ready for those who needed it.
Entering the school year, the Butler Health System expected a COVID-19 surge from the beginning of the fall school semester on Aug. 23.Only a short time later, by Sept. 5, several parents filed a lawsuit against masks in schools.Both the fight over mask mandates and health care staffing turmoil were frequent news subjects for the remanider of the year.
On Oct. 8, the Butler Health System reported it was “strained, but not swamped” by COVID-19 patients due to the delta variant.On Oct. 14, Butler High School's marching band played for hospital workers for a “morale boost.”
On Oct. 21, a lawyer argued against masks in schools, and on Nov. 9 the order was set to end.Then, on Nov. 11, a court negated the mask order before another court granted a stay on the order. There would be more to come on this yet.Meanwhile, on Oct. 29, the “COVID-19 death toll” reached 501 in Butler County, a grim milestone.Butler Memorial Hospital saw a COVID-19 surge on Nov. 30, but further research on the virus showed that “health issues, vaccination status, affect virus deaths” as reported by the Eagle on Dec. 8.Though Gov. Tom Wolf's administration planned to keep the mask mandate in schools through a January date, the state Supreme Court nixed the requirement sooner. A decision came on Dec. 10. The news was reported online immediately and in the Sunday, Dec. 12 issue of the Butler Eagle.
On Dec. 20, BHS commemorated one year of COVID-19 vaccines.Heading into the new year, however, there is still some uncertainty on the horizon.On Dec. 21, a local expert said the new COVID-19 variant, dubbed omicron, required reassessment.Around the Christmas and New Year's holidays, the variant had already begun to cause a massive uptick in cases across the county and nation.As of Wednesday, Dec. 29, there were 614 COVID-19 related deaths in Butler County.On Dec. 31, the Butler Eagle reported that state COVID-19 cases topped 2 million, setting a record for the third consecutive day.The shifts in the story of COVID-19 will likely continue into 2022.
