Community Update for Week of 8/29/2022

August 30, 2022

Update to Residents 8/30/2022

CVS to Be Partner in next COVID Booster Clinic at Kendal

CVS in Oberlin will partner with Kendal in providing the next COVID Booster Clinic. Final approvals from the Food and Drug Administration are expected soon on the new COVID booster dose of an Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine (try saying that three times fast

We are looking at COVID Booster Vaccines being available at Kendal perhaps by late October. We are grateful to CVS of Oberlin for being a willing partner.  

The bivalent vaccine contains mRNA encoding the original SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is present in the original Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, together with mRNA encoding the spike protein of the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variant. Pre-clinical data showed a booster dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccine generated a strong neutralizing antibody response against Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and BA.4/BA.5 variants, as well as the original wild-type strain. Source: https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-submit-application-us-fda-emergency-use

Insurance Workshop – Wednesday, September 7 at 10:00 am

Kendal at Oberlin is pleased to invite you to participate in a series of Annual Insurance Workshops. The first workshop will be next week on Wednesday on the topic of “Things to Consider During Open Enrollment.” Please plan to join us in-person in the Education Center; or via Zoom at https://kendal-org.zoom.us/j/88098362441 (Meeting ID: 880 9836 2441); or watch on KOTV. For more information, contact Donna Weber, Insurance Coordinator.

Spotlight on Community Heroes

As mentioned at last week’s Afternoon Exchange, we would like to identify individuals and businesses in the community who have helped us get through the pandemic – so that we may put a “spotlight” on them, i.e., recognized their invaluable assistance. Details have yet to be worked out, but the first step is figuring out who we want to recognize. Please send your suggestions to the front office: drop off a note at the Front Desk, or email Dale Preston (dpreston@kao.kendal.org) with your ideas. Thank you!

Teepa Snow’s “Positive Approach to Care: Dementia 101” video

Many people asked for the link to the excellent video by Teepa Snow about dementia that was shown at the Afternoon Exchange, so that you could watch it again or share it with friends and family. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpV83BVhXr4&authuser=0  Thank you to Kendal’s Dementia Education Group for informing our hearts and minds.

Additional Info About Valid ID For Voting in Ohio

Last week, we alerted you that IF you use your Ohio Driver’s License as your ID for voting, it must of course be a valid ID; that is, it can’t be expired. That said, there are of course many other acceptable forms of ID that can be used to vote in Ohio – and many Kendal residents don’t even have a driver’s license anymore. Many individuals choose to vote absentee ballot as that only requires a Social Security number and not a State ID or Driver’s License. Utility bills, bank statements, and other government documents can suffice as proof of your residency. The Finance Office can generate a “utility bill” for you if you wish. Please see this full list of acceptable IDs used in Ohio: https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/id-requirements/

Phones Not Working. ATM Not Working. Critters In The Lobby. What Is Going On? 

Is there a weird alignment of the planets, or is the aurora borealis invading? We’ve had recent reports of residents’ phones mysteriously not working; the ATM at Kendal is on the fritz; some people are having computer issues; the Post Office has been mistakenly returning mail to senders; and a friendly ambassador from the reptile family was spotted in Heiser Lobby. Never fear! We’re like Don Quixote, battling them all. Please be patient and smile when you pass by the Front Desk!

Another Study Confirms What We Could Have Told The Researchers

(shared by John Elder): Not news to us, but interesting to have this confirmed – “If you have a positive attitude about aging, you are likely to live longer.” Read the Harvard article here: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/positive-attitude-about-aging-could-boost-health/

The Lorain County Walk to End Alzheimer’s

Event will be on Saturday morning, Sept 17, 2022 at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon. Be part of the Kendal team at this community event to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s care and research. Walk will be from home plate out across center field and back around 3^rd baseline!  8:45am bus; 9:30am Ceremony & Walk. See Kim Preston in the Outreach office to register, or call her at 440-775-9074. 

Thanks for the Outdoor Movie Night:

A big thanks to everyone who worked behind-the-scenes to make last Friday night’s outdoor movie + ice cream + neighborhood gathering a fun night! Special appreciation to Rey Carrion, director of facilities, for setting up his giant movie screen and projector system. About 50 people turned out from Kendal and the surrounding neighborhood to enjoy the Disney/Pixar movie “Wall-E” under the stars.

New Fiber Art Supplies and Business Opening in Oberlin

FOR EWE, An Inclusive Fiber Community, established by Lisa Whitfield, is a new small business in Oberlin with a Grand Opening celebration on Thursday, September 1, at 12:30 p.m. The address is 181 W. College St. #23. Lisa created FOR EWE with the goal “to lift marginalized people in the fiber arts, with a particular emphasis on women, people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, and the neurodiverse community, by featuring products made by these various groups, providing educational programs, and service projects.” Tour of the shop and refreshments available immediately after ribbon cutting ceremony. RSVPs are not required but would be helpful. Contact: Janet Haar, Oberlin Business Partnership, 440-503-5031, obp.org@gmail.com; or Lisa Whitfield, FOR EWE, 440-732-4393, lisa@4-ewe.com.

COVID NEWS / STATISTICS:

Governor Mike DeWine’s regular COVID Press Conferences: https://ohiochannel.org

The Pandemic’s Soft Closing (shared by Judy Appleton):  The CDC’s latest COVID guidelines are the closest the nation’s leaders have come to saying the coronavirus crisis is done (although it is not):

          Where mitigation measures once moved in near lockstep with case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths, they’re now on separate tracks; the focus with COVID is, more explicitly than ever before, on avoiding only severe illness and death. The country seems close to declaring the national public-health emergency done—and short of that proclamation, officials are already “effectively acting as though it’s over,” says Lakshmi Ganapathi, a pediatric-infectious-disease specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital. If there’s such a thing as a “soft closing” of the COVID crisis, this latest juncture might be it.

The shift in guidelines underscores how settled the country is into the current state of affairs. This new relaxation of COVID rules is one of the most substantial to date—but it wasn’t spurred by a change in conditions on the ground. A slew of Omicron subvariants are still burning across most states; COVID deaths have, for months, remained at a stubborn, too-high plateau. The virus won’t budge. Nor will Americans.

So the administration is shifting its stance instead. No longer will people be required to quarantine after encountering the infected, even if they haven’t gotten the recommended number of shots; schools and workplaces will no longer need to screen healthy students and employees, and guidance around physical distancing is now a footnote at best.

All of this is happening as the Northern Hemisphere barrels toward fall—a time when students cluster in classrooms, families mingle indoors, and respiratory viruses go hog wild—the monkeypox outbreak balloons, and the health-care system remains strained. The main COVID guardrail left is a request for people to stay up to date on their vaccines… 

Read the full article in The Atlantic: https://apple.news/AhpdLlBBnQA6fR7ZhXy2ouA.