Community Updates Week of 9/27/2021

October 5, 2021

Vaccines, Vaccines, Vaccines

We are happy to announce the dates for distribution of the Pfizer COVID booster vaccine as well as the Fluzone Quadrivalent High Dose and Fluzone Quadrivalent Standard Dose flu vaccines, in partnership with our local CVS pharmacy for Independent Living residents.  All vaccines will be administered in the Heiser Auditorium.  Please remember to wear shirts that will give easy access to the upper deltoid muscle in your arm for both vaccines.  If you are going to be away from Kendal during these clinic dates, we encourage you visit either the CVS website:  https://www.cvs.com/ or the Discount Drug Mart website: https://discount-drugmart.com/ to register yourself.  Due to temperature storage requirements of the Pfizer booster vaccine, we will not be able to keep any doses on hand beyond the scheduled clinic dates.  We will, however, have extra flu vaccines on hand in the Health & Wellness Clinic.  We are still in the process of working out the details for the Stephens Care Center residents and Kendal at Oberlin staff to also receive each of these vaccines.  Details will be announced soon. 

Please call the Health & Wellness Clinic at 775-9819 to schedule times to receive both your COVID booster vaccine as well as your flu vaccine.  We will have both doses of the flu vaccine available, so please let the Health & Wellness Clinic know your preference when you call to schedule your time.  If you have any questions, please call Laurie Dupee at 775-9807. 

 FLU VACCINE SCHEDULE

• Thursday, Oct. 7^th    8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• Friday, Oct. 8^th          8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• Thursday, Oct. 14     8:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Dining Price Increases

We are learning that many residents were not aware that this last trial period (one-month) was specifically added to allow experience with the updated pricing we just rolled out.  Despite the many discussions in Exchange meetings and, most recently, the KORA Council meetings, there was not a comprehensive communication plan, leaving some residents feeling angry and surprised, as there had been no written notice.  This is not reflective of our community values, and so we will be rolling back the prices temporarily until they can be rolled out with extensive communication in the months ahead.

It is important to note that this delay does not change the fact that all of our prices will have to be adjusted to reflect the 20% increase we are seeing necessary in labor costs and the 5-9% increases in food costs.  The menu prices must cover the cost of each individual meal, otherwise the expense is subsidized by the entire community and not by the dining dollars of the resident making the purchase.

Greg Zehe

City of Oberlin

There is a planned, city-wide outage by First Energy to make repairs to the 69 kV line feeding Oberlin. The outage will be on October 2 from 12:00 a.m. to 4 a.m.  Kendal’s emergency generator has a limited scope outside the Stephens Care Center. If you believe that during your sleeping hours this will pose a problem for you, please consult with the Health and Wellness Clinic about your concern.

YouTube Recording of Exchange

We did not get a recording for last week’s Exchange. We are sorry that the download may have failed.

Don’s Article Gems

Oral Pills to Treat COVID in the Works

This Medscape article reports on the progress to make oral pills available to treat COVID at the first diagnosis. This will become part of our arsenal to fight COVID in the coming years, possibly as early as the first part of 2022.

More on the Developing Pills

A daily pill to treat COVID could be just months away, scientists say. At least three promising antivirals that could prevent symptoms and limit transmission of COVID-19 are in clinical trials.

Plan Ahead for a COVID-19 Session by Sanhita Gupta, MD

Sign up for an online session on Tuesday, October 5, from 12:10 – 1:00 p.m. for a conversation about COVID-19 with Dr. Sanhita Gupta, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Kent State Geauga and the Twinsburg Academic Center. Previous to working at Kent State Geauga, she earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Virology from Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, Dr. Gupta was employed as a research scientist at the State of Louisiana Public Health Lab. Dr. Gupta is the campus’s resident virologist who aims to educate our community about the COVID-19 virus and its variants, how to stay safe, and how vaccines work. Attendees are welcome to ask questions and learn more about the scientific perspectives regarding COVID and its impact on their lives. Register Now using this link.

Heiser Landscape Plan under Construction Soon

Our landscape contractor, Morton’s Landscape Development, is planning on starting the landscape work at Heiser on Thursday, September 30th. This work with take approximately two to three weeks, depending on weather. The landscape renderings will be on display in Heiser for your review during this project. There is also a copy of the blueprints in the library. Thank you for your cooperation during this project and we look forward to the completed results.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Ryan at 775-9869 or rstalz@kao.kendal.org.

Most Pressing Questions about the Booster Shot

Medscape gets answers from several experts on the 10 most pressing questions about the booster shot for COVID-19.

SAVE YOUR DISPOSABLE DINING CONTAINERS

To benefit Christ Church’s meal delivery program, residents at Kendal had been collecting CLEAN containers from our 2020 dining at home delivery days. (These were 9 in., black covered plates and clear, one pint soup containers.) Please bring your stashed collection to Parking Lot #6, Garage #92.  Joyce Parker will deliver them to Christ Church.

The Healing Democracy Series – Continuing the Eight Part Lecture Series from Oberlin College

Tonight’s lecture, at 7pm, “The Psychology of Partisan Politics” was announced in last week’s bulletin. The next lecture, “Free Speech, Academic Freedom, and Democracy” is scheduled for Oct 5, at 7:00pm. President of Oberlin College, Carmen Twillie Ambar, will walk you through the issues and debate surrounding academic freedom, both as it plays out on college campuses like Oberlin, and as it relates to the broader cause of healing democracy. Carmen Twillie Ambar is the 15th president of Oberlin College and the first African American leader in the institution’s 187-year history. At Oberlin, President Ambar initiated an Academic and Administrative Review process, a data-driven, top-to-bottom examination of the institution. The process resulted in the adoption of “One Oberlin,” a set of recommendations that establishes a new vision for Oberlin. This vision includes new minors, integrated concentrations, the framing for a new conservatory curriculum, an emphasis on career communities and winter term, and long-term strategies for the reallocation of resources and growth for the College and Conservatory. In August 2020, Ambar established The Presidential Initiative on Racial Equity and Diversity that launched a 21-person commission to help guide issues of violence, police-community relationships, and racial injustices.

Today’s Statistics

Kendal at Oberlin (KaO)

Lorain County (as of 9/21/2021)

Cuyahoga County (as of 9/28/2021)

State of Ohio (as posted on 9/28/2021)