UK Core Issue: How Do We Distribute Covid Vaccines?

 The talks about the Covid-19 vaccines have been around since the beginning of quarantine. The questions that all people ask is when and how much. Currently, I work at Walgreens pharmacy and flu shots are happening as if it were a fast-food restaurant. In class, we learned about the impending "twindemic" which means flu season and coronavirus happening at the same time. I know it really is scary to think about. This is what is so alarming is the fact that there is only one vaccine out right now to treat one of these pandemics, the flu. What about coronavirus? 

Now let us imagine, that we live in a society where everyone can agree and we are getting stuff done, meaning getting that Covid-19 vaccine made. Who gets it first? How do we regulate that the necessary get it first?  

    After experiencing what is like to be in a pharmacy during a pandemic and trying to do your job efficiently, I have learned a lot about shortages and distribution. To be able to perform well we need to have sufficient tools. It is very hard to perform without your sufficient tools unless you have the magic wand and you can make things happen. I believe the best way to distribute the vaccines is in the hierarchy of service. I would start by giving vaccines to all the essential health care workers. These essential health care works have to fall under a set of criteria to be the first to receive the first round of vaccinations. The criteria would include doctors and nurses that work in coronavirus care units at their respective hospitals, primary care physicians, physician's assistants,  and pharmacists. After all, those vaccinations have been distributed then we got to the second phase of distributions and that is to all of those that work in close contact with those mention in the first phase, this includes technicians of each branch. If any of these positions are working from home or virtually will be excluded from both rounds until more vaccinations can be obtained.  I believe this is the most efficient way to distribute at the beginning due to the way that some places are struggling now. In order to treat someone, the person doing the treating has to be healthy and able to fight the battle that they are coming up with. In this case, the less you have the better when it comes to the number of people sick and the more healthy you have the better.

    In order for this to work and be efficient, each healthcare worker will have to register for the vaccine and verify that they are who they are through there credentials this can range from DEA number, NPI number, or verification of workplace and title. There will only be one place of immunization and that will be UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital. The city of Lexington and the University of Kentucky have agreed on this location because we are trying to promote unity and efficiency at this time. After all vaccinations have been given to the two groups above, the next focus will be on the most vulnerable in the community and then to the rest of the population at no cost. Things take time but in order to battle and diminish the pandemic, we also have to put the frontliners with the best combative gear which is the vaccine. Until then do your part and mask up

*laughs in spanish*

 My family is from Honduras and keeps it close to home too. My parents receive a lot of their information in Spanish and also like jokes in Spanish too! My mother, Digna, likes to show me memes in Spanish because I also relate to them as she does. We are Roman Catholic and our faith is very important to us. At the start of the pandemic, we didn't realize that Covid would take away a celebration that we celebrate each year and that was Holy Week. the church that we attend in Bowling Green, Ky has a huge Hispanic population and we hold holy week events with some ceremonies that are practiced in Latin American countries. We could no longer congregate like we normally do because it is not physically possible to social distance with the number of people that attend so everything was done via live stream. My mom showed me a meme in Spanish that accurately described our feeling.

Translation: When they tell you you can die from the coronavirus vs. when they tell you, you cannot have holy week ceremonies or celebrations because of the coronavirus.

I am Bored in the House and In the House Bored

 During the beginning of quarantine, I did a lot of tik tok watching to ease the seriousness that I was feeling by being stuck in the house. I would spend hours on hours on tik tok and found some pretty interesting stuff including some cool songs or some new hack that would change my life. Nonetheless, I found a pretty catchy song and a very mutual feeling with what every college kid was feeling at the money if they were quarantining with their parents like I was. Also, I am an only child so I lived with two other people which includes my parents, so I really didn't have a lot of entertainment to choose from. Sorry mom and dad, you are kinda boring to hang out with.

My favorite catchy tune from quarantine "Bored in the House". Warning, there is some explicit language.

Where Can I Get the Covid Details?

     At the beginning of quarantine, I really relied on my twitter feed to give all the news about Covid-19. I can already hear what you are saying "twitter isn't that reliable". I already know it is not that reliable but I wasn't really paying attention to the news all that much, to begin with. After giving it a lot of thought I decided that I really do need to pay much attention to the news because I work in healthcare and things change every single day. 

    At my work, the older ladies listened to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear daily briefings and honestly, I enjoyed hearing them and I thought it honestly gave me everything that I needed to know and I knew it was accurate for the most part. I know during this time media coverage is very prominent at this time but you also have to watch out for the outlets that you choose to listen to because they are biased. Along with hearing daily briefings, I like to gather information from different news outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post to compare and contrast information. I felt pretty informed with the combination of these three. You can never be too informed. I also gathered a lot of information from the pharmacists that I work with. I realized very quickly I have to be informed due to many customer questions that I was encountering.

    My mom is not really good at picking out fake news. She will believe anything she reads or that talks. I really had to show her that you need to watch out where you get news from because they will say stuff that isn't exactly true or misinform you. I felt like I was a news outlet for her too. She would ask me each day if there were any updates about the pandemic. She even found a recipe for a tea that supposedly cured Covid-19. I had to shut that down real quick because if that were the case then we would not be in this thing called a Pandemic. C'mon Mom you know better than that!

This is what a daily briefing by Gov. Andy Beshear looks like.

Being in a Classroom during Fall Semester 2020

     I will say it again and again, "this semester is like no other". The University of Kentucky opened its doors for the Fall 2020 semester with a lot of new and unexpected changes. Classes are either fully online, hybrid, or in-person.  I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I get to have an in-person class. Most might disagree with me because they get to stay at home and do all their work, but I think by having in-person classes I get a little taste of normalcy. I thought I was getting a glimpse of pre-COVID times but unfortunately, the classroom setting has also changed.

    My Spanish 310 class is in McVey Hall. The classroom is huge but only 20 people can be in there at a time to properly social distance. We must have masks on at all times during class. Having a mask on at all times is equivalent to having a distraction in class in my opinion. Our desks are all spread out which means not many conversations are happening either. I honestly feel slightly awkward being in a classroom. All of our worksheets have to be completed on computers because we are not allowed to turn in physical things to limit human contact. The instructor also stands behind plexiglass which is something I am not used to and I will never get used to it. We don't really do any group work because again the goal is to social distance and that doesn't work well with group work.

    As you can understand from the picture that I tried painting, in-person classes are not the same at all. I rather stay at home, to be honest. This semester is truly like no other and the thing is will this ever go back to normal. I honestly am afraid to say this but I think not.

This is what the front of my classroom in McVey Hall looked like.

    

My classmates and their masks!

    

I am in a Sorority and I Feel Like I am Being Blamed

     The University of Kentucky tested all of its students and employees for COVID-19 at the beginning of the semester. After all the tests were completed UK decided to retest everyone who takes part in Fraternity and Sorority Life because we had a high positivity rate compared to the rest of the population that was also tested. I was tested twice in a week's span. I was negative both times. I am in a sorority and I have been following all the regulations. I am aware that some of my fellow peers that are in FSL may not follow the regulations but I believe clumped into this mold that I am not following the rules so I must be retested. I honestly think that if there are students who are parking in activities that can spread the virus they should be punished for their actions or take some course that shows them the consequences that lad to this virus. I don't think retesting a group of people should be necessary because it is not the group as a whole that are doing these activities. I stay at home for the most part. I haven't been going to any large gatherings. I shouldn't be blamed!

Below I have attached the article posted by UKY on Phase 2 retesting.

UKY's Article on Phase 2 Retesting

What a Time to be Alive

 I am gonna paint a picture to explain what a normal semester looked like for me before Covid-19 happened. I was able to walk freely without feeling like I was suffocating in a mask. I also think I had never worn a face mask before this time because I never had the need to. I could go to the gym and use whatever workout equipment without having to social distance. I could go to mass gatherings without feeling like I was doing something wrong. I was able to attend office hours in person and not via zoom meetings. I hope you are probably reading this and saying "wait we can do those things now".     

The sad truth is that now all those things above I took for granted. No one expected a pandemic to happen and also we were never prepared for a pandemic either. I will be first to admit with no shame I hate it here. 2020 is not fun and I am sad to say these are definitely not the roaring 20's. 

Now, my semester looks a little like this. I wake up only to walk downstairs for breakfast and walk back upstairs to my room to start classes via Zoom. Most of my classes take place online while one class is still in a classroom but its honestly a hassle. The classroom setting is a little different now. You must keep your face mask on at all times and the teacher must remain behind plexiglass. The campus looks gloomy and almost like a ghost town with almost everything being online. The only people I really get to see are my 3 roommates and the handful of students in my in-person class. I can no longer go to the gym and workout out with my best friend by my side because social distancing is really big right now. I am not complaining by any means but I will say I miss who things once were. I hope by the time you are reading this your semester is looking like mine before Covid-19 because I really do not wish this upon anyone. 

Being a Karen During the Pandemic

 As you can tell by the title my name is Karen Alesandra Ramos. My name is somewhat special during this time because it is mostly used in memes as a joke. The name "Karen" is currently used to define someone that always has a bone to pick whether that is with the manager or something she doesn't agree with. "Karen" usually isn't the nice lady either. Although I am probably the nicest Karen you will ever meet in my opinion. I am a junior here at the University of Kentucky. I am pursuing a degree in Psychology. My ultimate goal is to become a Pharmacist. I am from a small city in Kentucky called Bowling Green, Ky. My parents are originally from Honduras. So I do consider myself Honduran and I am very proud of that. Since my family consists of mostly immigrants, we roll with the punches because anything can come our way. I don't think we were prepared to roll with the punches when a pandemic came along. I am very excited to record my time during the pandemic while in college because I think this is something that a lot of people have never experienced and who knows if this is something we will ever experience again. Below I will leave you with a picture of me along with a picture of your typical "Karen" and I'll let you decide if my name is the middle-aged white woman who likes to knit pick everything or if it is just the girl who is trying to figure out this whole pandemic thing!