Health

For elderly residents still in need of a Covid-19 vaccination, including the homebound and those lacking the computer skills needed to schedule an appointment, East Hampton Town is offering help through the Human Services Department, and other organizations are also looking to help.

A desire to know something for certain is particularly evident in medicine. However, there is always that small opportunity for rainy days and tornadoes, in medicine as in everything else. Nothing is absolute.

Before there was the Covid-19 pandemic, there was the drug epidemic — a health and social battle that was ongoing when the virus arrived — and experts say that Covid-19 has worsened the problem of substance abuse.

Several medical studies have shown the power of gratitude. I am grateful for every single nurse, certified nursing assistant, technician, sanitary worker, cafeteria worker, and staff member in the hospitals where I work who did not give an inch in this fight, who offered me weary smiles and kind words after long shifts.

In unusual times, mothers, nurses, midwives, and doulas are facing preganancy and birth under circumstances that sometime demand the exact opposite of the intimacy that is part and parcel of the experience.

New Yorkers 30 and older will be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine starting on Tuesday, and everyone 16 and older will be eligible on April 6, the state announced Monday. At the same time, the number of East End vaccination sites seems to be keeping pace with increased eligibility.

For those eager to get a Covid-19 vaccine, meeting the state's eligibility requirements is only the first hurdle. Actually securing an appointment can be tricky and time-consuming, and the process can be even more difficult if you have limited access to the internet. Here are some tips, and links, gleaned from our research that may make it a little easier.

Para quienes desean vacunarse contra Covid-19, el primer desafío -no menor, por cierto- es el de cumplir con los requisitos establecidos por el Estado de Nueva York. Después, hay que conseguir una cita, un proceso que puede ser complejo y lento, sobre todo si uno tiene acceso limitado a internet. A continuación presentamos algunas recomendaciones y links, fruto de nuestra investigación, que pueden ayudar.

A recent cluster of Covid-19 cases in an East Hampton Town government department "really brings home the point that this is not the time to relax," Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said last Thursday, after Councilman Jeff Bragman asked for a discussion of the cluster at the conclusion of a town board meeting.

By now, it's an open secret: A single gathering of teens, reportedly held two weekends ago at a house in Sag Harbor and attended by students from multiple schools, has resulted in a spate of positive Covid-19 cases.

Many people who are now vaccinated are curious as to how it changes their lives in terms of day-to-day activities. What can you do once you are vaccinated that you couldn't do before? 

New York State residents age 50 and above will be eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines starting on Tuesday. The state is also encouraging houses of worship to sign up as vaccination sites.

The rate of Covid-19 vaccinations among New York State's Black and Latino residents continues to lag far behind that of their white counterparts, according to data from the state. South Fork community leaders say the discrepancy is due primarily to a lack of access to the vaccine. 

Starting on Wednesday morning, people will be able to schedule appointments for Covid-19 vaccinations at a new state-run site opening Friday at Stony Brook Southampton college campus.

As Covid-19 infection rates continue to either fall or plateau across the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that pandemic-related restrictions on social gatherings, indoor dining at restaurants, and attendance at arts venues will be relaxed.

How does the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, approved last week by the F.D.A., compare with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines already in use? Differences aside, all three appear to be practically perfect at preventing hospitalization and death from Covid-19.

As eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccines expands in New York, so too are the locations closer to home where people can get their shots. Last week, East Hampton Town administered first or second doses to nearly 2,000 people at its site, and still more were able to get vaccinated at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons in Southampton. In addition, the state is opening a mass vaccination site at the Stony Brook Southampton college campus.

As federal supplies of Covid-19 vaccines begin to tick upward, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has once again expanded eligibility for the vaccines, announcing on Tuesday that people ages 60 and over will be able to get shots starting Wednesday morning.

After much lobbying by local officials, a state-run site for Covid vaccinations will soon be opening on the campus of Stony Brook Southampton.

East Hampton Town and Stony Brook Medicine are offering Covid vaccines today, Friday, March 5, for those 65 years or older at the East Hampton Town clinic on Stephen Hand's Path. Several hundred appointments were still available as of Friday morning.

It was one of those things you think could happen anywhere but in your own town, but Covid-19 proved it would not discriminate, starting with its official arrival here in March 2020, when the county's first Covid-19 patient was admitted to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

From the parking lot in the mall to the emergency room in the hospital, community members are showing how kindness — any time, any place, to anyone — can be a real shot in the arm during the pandemic.

It's hard to find any sector of society that wasn't impacted by Covid-19 in the year since the county's first virus case was reported, and first-person experiences and expert opinions, documented here, suggest that the pandemic may leave its mark for years to come.

Armed with a computer, an internet connection, and a humanitarian streak, East End residents who have become adept at using New York State's website for booking Covid-19 vaccine appointments are helping others get their shots.

All too often, it seems, the story of Covid-19 is told through statistics and trends. Beyond those numbers are hundreds of thousands of human beings — real people — who lost their lives to the pandemic across the world. As told to The Star by their families, here are some of their stories from the East End.

There are few, if any, absolutes in medicine. For example, the medical establishment spent years telling people that low-fat diets would lower their risk of dying, particularly by lowering high cholesterol and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

For those who need help coping with pandemic-related losses and other issues, a number of organizations and medical facilities continue to offer resources. Here are a few.

East Hampton Town on Tuesday formally launched a vaccine "hub" website for town residents to sign up to receive Covid-19 vaccine appointments. It is accessible at ehtownvaccine.org.

A senior Stony Brook Southampton Hospital official said this week that the post-holiday surge of Covid-19 patients is over, and now it's a matter of public vigilance until vaccinations yield widespread immunity to the virus.

More than 250 people from communities of color received Covid-19 vaccinations at a pop-up clinic in East Hampton organized by the Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island, part of a state effort to make sure minority communities receive access to the vaccine.