By Dave Ryan

CAMBRIDGE — As Dorchester County and the rest of the nation reached the pandemic’s one-year anniversary, the Banner asked local health officials how they had worked through the challenges, what the year had been like for their operation, and what they saw ahead.
Dorchester County Health Department Officer Roger Harrell, Deputy Health Officer Dr. Casey Scott and Health Education Program Manager Angela Mercier responded.

Banner: When the pandemic hit us this time last year, what was the outlook at that point? Has it been more or less severe than expected?

Roger Harrell: Frankly, we did not know the outlook. The first confirmed case in Maryland was on March 5, 2020. We did not have our first confirmed case until March 24, 2020. Our team started planning to implement increased testing for COVID while strengthening our contact tracing. We were planning for the worst while hoping for the best. We knew that to be effective we would need to test as many individuals as possible, isolate the positive individuals, isolate their close contacts and promote good hygiene if we were going to begin to mitigate this virus.

Angela Mercier: As Roger said, we did not know what to expect. I think one of the greatest challenges has been the unknown. Public health has prepared for emergencies, but the pandemic has been an evolving crisis. We activated a response team, including the establishment of our Joint Information Center to coordinate accurate, consistent messaging among partners and to keep our community informed. I recall feeling anxious, partly because of the unknown, but also because we anticipated that first confirmed case. Our communications changed from “if” to “when” COVID-19 would impact Dorchester County.

Banner: What do we need from the state? I saw that the weekly allotment for Dorchester is 300 doses. In the recent show on WHCP, Dr. Scott said the DCHD could easily administer 500 doses. Can we still do that, or more, now that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be made available?

Mr. Harrell: We need continued increased allocation of vaccine by the state.
Banner: President Biden says there will be enough doses to vaccinate all adults by the end of May. That sounds like a significant increase in the process. Are we ready for that?

Dr. Scott: We are ready and excited for this next phase of vaccine rollout. It will involve some additional planning and staffing resources on our part. I think the mass vaccination site at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury will be very instrumental in achieving this goal, as will the other clinics in our area that are offering vaccinations.

Ms. Mercier: The demand for vaccines has far exceeded the supply, so we are looking forward to increased supply and prepared for that. But I think another component of readiness is vaccine acceptance. Not only are we vaccinating eager individuals within the eligible priority groups, but we are also preparing community members to get vaccinated when the opportunity does arise. We are doing our best to provide accurate information, answer questions, and respond to concerns. Additionally, we are breaking down access barriers by taking our new mobile vans to locations throughout the county. In collaboration with our trusted faith-based leaders and community organizations, we are planning and holding vaccination clinics at churches, senior housing complexes, and more sites that are accessible to vulnerable and minority populations.

Banner: How has Dorchester responded, in general? It seems like numbers were down for a while, then they increased, and now they are back down somewhat. Is that accurate? What caused those changes?

Mr. Harrell: All in all, I am very pleased with the response by the community and our health department. We have provided a high level of testing with contact tracing of all positive individuals and their contacts. Our messaging to the community has been thorough and consistent. Now what we have vaccine in our tool kit our team has used 100% of our allocation. Our team has remained resilient providing effective and efficient COVID services to our community.

The toughest part of mitigating this virus is individual responsibility. We can message that you must wear a face covering, practice social distancing, wash your hands, do not attend events or gatherings that are high risk, stay at home when ill but its up to each individual to embrace and follow our recommendations. Thus, we noted increased positive cases after the Thanksgiving and Christmas New Years Holidays.

Banner: Can you speak a little about yourselves, and your careers? This year seems like one that would pretty much define careers, and certainly provide major challenges. What has one year of COVID-19 meant to the leadership and staff at DCHD?

Mr. Harrell: I have worked in private and public health environments for 40+ years. Twenty-four of those years has been as the Health Officer for Dorchester County. My career includes serving as CEO of Physical Rehabilitation Hospitals and rural Acute Care Hospitals as well as policy and program development in Injury, Maternal and Child Health and Chronic Disease for the State Health Department.
This year has afforded me the opportunity to observe and appreciate the dedication, fortitude, resilience and commitment of our COVI-19 team providing unselfish service to the citizens of our community. I never cease to be amazed at the performance of this team!

Dr. Scott: I am a family physician who was raised here in Dorchester County. In 2014, I moved home and started working at the health department as medical director of the School-Based Wellness Center Program. I graduated with my Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2019. This past year has challenged me in many ways, but I’ve learned so much about our staff and our community along the way. We are resilient, strong-willed, and ready to face whatever challenge comes next. I’m so proud of our community for being willing to do what is necessary to keep one another safe.

Ms. Mercier: I have worked at the Dorchester County Health Department for 10 years, and as the Health Education Program Manager for nearly six years. I care immensely about public and community health. Just like everyone else, the past year has been challenging and overwhelming. A dear friend said something to me that really resonated and helped me traverse the pandemic – I have been privileged and given an incredible responsibility and opportunity to serve the community.

I never anticipated responding to a global pandemic, but I am grateful for the selfless, dedicated employees at the health department and our supportive, steadfast partners. We may not want to look back on the hardships of this past year, but we have persevered and continue to overcome.