The world in the aftermath of COVID-19 is a different place.
Never before have so many people been affected at this scale or speed. The coronavirus has perhaps forever changed how we work, live, socialize and interact.
July 4 was to mark a turning point in the pandemic.
President Joe Biden declared Independence Day as the launch of a summer of freedom. He is encouraging nationwide celebrations to mark the country’s return to normalcy after 16 months of coronavirus pandemic disruption and more than 600,000 lives lost.
Even though the country has fallen short of its goal of having 70% of adults vaccinated by the holiday, many Americans are already celebrating the end to mask mandates and the reopening of restaurants, businesses and schools.
It was a momentous day at UPMC Somerset at 10 a.m. Friday when eight health care workers who work on the frontline with COVID patients were vaccinated with Pfizer in a step against the virus.
âThis is a historic day at UPMC Somerset. For the past several months, our frontline workers have been working so incredibly hard to meet the health care needs of our community. We could not be more excited that the first people to receive this vaccine are these employees,â said Andy Rush, president of UPMC Somerset. âThese employees received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This vaccine was issued under an Emergency Use Authorization.â