Western Wayne News went to the streets to ask questions about
COVID-19. The following questions were asked:
1. Have you or anyone you know been impacted by the Coronavirus?
2. What are your thoughts about a vaccine, and do you plan to take it when it becomes available?
3. We are all tired of it. What helps you overcome virus fatigue?
Chase Tice
Economy
1. My mother had it. Very early on
2. I do not plan to take it when it’s available. If it’s a helpful tool, and people choose to use it, it’s each individual’s decision.
3. I just go about my daily of what I’m supposed to do and I’ve worked through the entire thing and just do my day-to-day normal stuff. The kids not being in school is a little harder and having to deal with that kind of stuff. I just go about my daily routine and keep on trucking. It is all you can do.
Amy Goldman
Indianapolis
1. I work in the healthcare field so I’ve treated some of the patients.
2. I think it (a vaccine) is fairly close on the horizon. I don’t know if it will be before the end of the year but yes, I’ll get it. Being on the front lines, I’ll probably be one of the first ones.
3. Honestly, because we get updates from the hospital where we work, I pretty much avoid it like the plague (when not at work). I don’t watch it.
Dora Ragger
Centerville
1. No
2. No ma’am, I sure won’t
3. I’m trying to get out
when I can
Carolyn Shiroka
Muncie
1. Yes. They are okay now. One was on a ventilator for 6 weeks, but she’s home now. She was an asthma person, so her lungs were compromised.
2. Yes, if it’s been tested and proved to be effective.
3. No, I have a lot of happy hobbies. I’m just very cautious about going out and I’m not eating in restaurants right now. And I’m heading to Florida for a little sunshine.
Bob Bohner
Richmond
1. Yes, but not locally. My wife’s aunt, 105, got it and survived. A 90-year-old friend in Baltimore died. Nationally, it’s really ramped up and has gone out of control.
2. When it’s proven safe. I won’t take the vaccine if it comes out tomorrow. I know they’re not following regular protocol. I will wait a couple months and see if the people are still alive. Next spring or summer.
3. It has changed our lives totally and it will forever. I believe it will be 2022 before things remotely get back to normal – until the vaccine comes out… It’s going to change the way business is done. (He misses normal freedoms, such as later hours at stores and eating in restaurants, and expresses concern for the many laid-off workers, such as those in the airline and hospitality industries, and feels sorry for the families who are juggling virtual learning.)
Carey Martin
Fountain City
1. I think everybody has been affected by the Coronavirus with the restrictions – schools, businesses and stuff like that. I mean small community, we’ve all been affected by it.
2. It just depends on the research, if the research is there and it’s backed and if it’s gonna be beneficial. I’m always cautious when it comes to stuff like that. I very rarely get a flu shot. But, it just depends. I’ll research it before I take it, and do whatever. Right now, it’s up in the air if I will or not.
3. My job, I just go through my day as normal as possible. I watch out for my family and stuff like that and do my own type of stress relief. I like to fly drones so I go out, and I try to focus on my job so I’m not focused on the virus itself even though this type of job itself is surrounded by it too. I stay very busy.
Jason Crass
Richmond
1. Not that I know of. I’ve been tested.
2. Sure. I’m positive I would.
3. I’m just not thinking about it.
Jaquan Coffey
Richmond
1. My younger sister had it. She had to be by herself until it was done.
2. No, I won’t take it. We’ve been here for a long time. I’ve never taken the flu shot and I don’t want to take it and get sick.
3. We gotta be worried about it, gotta keep doing what we’ve been doing to not get sick: stay inside our circle. Once you go out of it, you don’t know.
Lyle and Penny Stevens
Hagerstown
1. We know several people who have been impacted by the virus, either by actual illness, or quarantine due to exposure; know three families who’ve lost loved ones due to covid-related complications.
2. Hope a safe vaccine is developed soon; undecided as to whether we will take it.
3. Sometimes we turn off the news, or scroll past covid-related posts on social media; we are trying to be as wise as possible, taking reasonable precautions, but are intentionally trying not to allow it to rule our lives.
Dave Cooper
Whitewater
1. Everybody’s affected but I don’t know anybody that’s been infected. I’m affected because I can’t have conjugal visits with my girlfriend because they locked the border to Canada.
2. After I am sure they’ve got the bugs out of it. I’ve already had two flu shots this year, a low dose one at CVS and then when the VA had the high dose a month later, I had it. But I’ve got a lot of buddies that were in Iraq or the Mideast and they got sick after they got some vaccinations for things they got over there.
3. I’ve got plenty of projects … built a workbench in my outbuilding. I’m slowly siding my house, knocking off the heavy asbestos shingles and replacing them with Dutch lap shingles, and my poor deceased ex-wife left me with 29 cats … none of them inside cats.
Melissa Rogers-Ritter
Hagerstown
1. We have known a handful of people who have contracted the virus, luckily no one in our home has.
2. I believe in vaccines and I am confident when a safe, effective vaccine is available I will get the vaccine.
3. We spend time with our family and have watched more tv than we should.
Kristina Frazier
Connersville
1. No
2. If there was one available and I got tested and needed it, then yes. otherwise I think it’s great to have a vaccine for others do have it
3. Playing with my puppies, going out and doing things that are safe, and being with people with mask on that are safe.
Shelly Newton
Fountain City
1. Actually, we do have family members that have had the Coronavirus, yes.
2. Not sure yet.
3. House projects for sure
Josh Parker
Cambridge City
1. I have not, but I do have a few friends that have either been laid off from work or they have had the virus themselves.
2. If it’s proven to work, yes.
3. I just kind of go with it.