Coronavirus COVID-19

The Oklahoma State Department of Health released a statement recently to continue to be aware of COVID.

"OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain, And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet, When the wind comes right behind the rain!"

So far three districts have announced changes to this week's schedule.

There's been a lot of talk and speculation about Oklahoma ending the additional $300 a week unemployment benefit. The rumors are true, the extra Federal aid with unemployment benefits will end next month on Saturday, June 26th (06-26-21). If you're currently collecting unemployment after the 26th of next month you'll lose that extra $300 per week you've been receiving.

LPS (Lawton Public Schools) has expired their mandatory mask mandate for all Lawton area schools within the LPS district. The news came yesterday (05-24-21) that it will no longer be required for students, faculty or visitors to wear masks or face coverings inside or outside. The mask mandate was originally put in place for all Lawton schools back in August of 2020 during the pandemic.

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination for children ages 12 and up. So now younger kids are able to get vaccinated against the virus. Now that all the Federal approvals are met the OSDH (Oklahoma State Department of Health) has green lighted county health departments across the state to start offering the vaccine to anyone 12 years of age and older immediately.

We're finally starting to see a return to normal, thank God! It's been a crazy year or so with the COVID-19 pandemic and everything that's happened since. From what it looks like we're actually going to have a decent Summer and if things continue to improve the days of isolation and boredom could be coming to an end. In Oklahoma our numbers have improved to the point that Governor Kevin Stitt ended the "State of Emergency" and we're seeing more and more places open up and activities we've been missing return.

I had been warned, repeatedly that the second COVID-19 vaccination was rough when compared to the first one. In my normal devil may care, you don't know what you're talking about fashion, I completely ignored the warnings and I'm paying the price for that now.

Coming up this Wednesday, May 12th (05-12-21) the CCHD (Comanche County Health Department) will be hosting a drive thru COVID-19 vaccination event at the Great Plains Coliseum located at 920 South Sheridan Road from 8:00am until 6:00pm. You can just pull in and get your shot and no appointment is necessary. All persons that are age 16 plus are eligible. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to get vaccinated.

This past week the CCHD (Comanche County Health Department) has been on the move helping the Lawton, Fort Sill community get their COVID-19 vaccinations. Maybe you've seen the pop-up mobile vaccination clinics around town, or went to one yourself.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order ending the state's COVID-19 State of Emergency effective Tuesday, May 4th 2021 (05-04-21). wwwIn his address he stated that Oklahoma's COVID-19 number of new cases is down 94% from it's peak, the number of new cases per capita are among the lowest in the Nation.

The main topic for the past several weeks has been the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates. Seems more and more cities, counties and states are doing way with their mandatory regulations and rules concerning public health, as it relates to the pandemic. Of course this has caused a lot of heated debate and arguments over the past couple of weeks. Some say it's too early and others are saying it's about time. Now that we have a wide spread COVID-19 vaccine and most of the population is getting vaccinated, we're all wondering when we'll be seeing a return to normal?