Dear Friends,

“Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”

I am not the poster child for patience. Ask my kids, my husband, and my friends. Not really my forte. However, I am someone who can see the bigger picture. I understand how things work. I know that there are forces, people and circumstances that prevent me from getting things when I want them. I can only say that this has gotten better with age, wisdom and lots of practice.

Learning to be patient is a skill that needs to be refined. You need to learn tolerance, and understanding. You need to learn how to take a step back, take a deep breath and look at the bigger picture.

Earlier this week, I was driving to work and got stuck behind a large truck full of logs. It was loud, going very slow and kicking off some major exhaust. My first thought was “I know of at least three places I will be able to pass them … I’m the first car, so all good”. Much to my chagrin, I was not able to pass them. There I was, following this large, smelly, loud truck at 30 mph, and getting really annoyed. I had to take a purposeful deep breath, and step back to calm myself down.

What was my problem? This truck driver was only doing their job. It wasn’t their fault I was running late. It wasn’t their fault that I needed gas and didn’t stop to get it first. It wasn’t their fault I was now running late to a meeting with a staff member. I was o.k. Nothing was earth shattering. No one’s life was in danger. It really boiled down to my expectations not being met, and letting my frustration take hold of me for a little while. Being able to control myself and exercise a little patience kept me from working myself into some serious road rage. And for what? I think we all could use a lesson in patience and humility from time to time.

The events of the past two weeks has been more stress, uncertainty and anxiety on top of stress, uncertainty and anxiety. In fact, when I look back on the past ten months I feel like we have all been in this constant state of panic that we barely work our way out of before something else monumental happens. I think we have all just learned to live with it; I know I certainly have. If you really think about it, when was the last time you felt calm? When did you last feel like all was right in the world?

Now, we have a new point of stress: vaccines. Vaccinations in New York State began a few weeks ago for those who fit the 1A demographic, and just this week we added 1B. Now, keep in mind when the 1B group was added, we were not through all of 1A recipients. And to make matters worse, the 65+ population was added last minute, extending this to a whole new group of people who are now eligible.

These two groups combined total 7 million people in New York State. That’s right … 7 million people in our state are now eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. New York State is only receiving 300,000 vaccines a week.

During the State of the State address by Governor Cuomo, he said it will take 14 – 16 weeks to vaccinate everyone in 1A and 1B before moving on to the general population. Folks, it’s a lot of people trying to be vaccinated all at once! I feel like it’s the toilet paper issue all over again. People are scrambling to find a place to get a vaccine; they’re constantly calling the department of health, the hospital, providers and pharmacies trying to get in line. The state website is so overwhelmed with inquires that it has broken down nearly every day since it launched.

While I am very happy that so many are receptive to the vaccine, I think everyone needs to exercise some patience and understanding right now. 7 million people. 300,000 vaccines a week. The math does not add up. Not everyone will be able to be vaccinated right away, and we all need to take a step back, look at this logically and let the system work.

Everyone who wants a vaccine will get one. We have to wait our turn, stop overwhelming the hospitals, department of health and pharmacies with calls. Remember, while everyone is clambering to be vaccinated, we are still dealing with COVID. For every call and email these places get asking when they will get more vaccines, it’s one less call for contact tracing, testing, PPE and support for families.

Please, I understand why you want to be vaccinated. I get it. But we can’t get through everyone at once. It’s impossible. Let our dedicated health professionals do their job. They will get to you when they can, and all I can hope is that that the federal allocations increase soon. The entire country, the entire world in fact, needs the vaccine. Our county is facing the same issues all counties in New York State are facing; we are no different than our Southern Tier neighbors.

There are hardworking people advocating and trying to get us the supply we need. They’re working out their reservation system and trying to get to everyone that needs this. And don’t forget, those who had their first dose need to get their second in a small window of time so they will take priority before others will receive their first dose.

Let us all find some humanity, humility and patience. Patience is a skill that needs to be exercised; whether you are fighting road rage or waiting for your turn in line. It may take some self-talk, you might need to vent, but let us all take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Your turn will come.

Be patient, Chenango.

~ Kerri