Health officials say it will be months before COVID-19 vaccine slows the spread; businesses have to hang on a while longer
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PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — While there is hope with the first U.S. vaccinations likely just around the corner, health officials say this will not be an instant end to the pandemic, and everyone will still need to take precautions for a while.
At Adorn, a Portland boutique, owner Nicole Whitesell knows it won’t be an immediate return to business as usual.
She recently shared on social media how difficult being a small business owner has been this year.
“I started my business ten years ago from the ground up, I had $20 thousand left on a credit card, and I went for it, she said.
Her social media post described starting up during the recession, how her family was finally able to buy a house, and how the business has lost $30-40 thousand each month since COVID-19.
“I know that people want to see us be here when this is over, and I just felt like sharing our story and the reality of where we are and being transparent and vulnerable with the people now rather than six months from now when its too late, that it gives them a chance to show up for us,” she said.
Even with Oregon expected to have its first round of vaccines by this time next week, health officials caution vaccinations will be a process.
“It will not be a light switch; it will happen over several months,” Multnomah County Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Vines said.
CNN details a report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force saying the current vaccine plan will not substantially reduce the spread, hospitalizations, or deaths from COVID-19 until the 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions can be fully immunized. They say it will take until late spring.
Dr. Vines said it’s too hard to tell at this point when things could get back to normal.
“I’m hoping over the course of the calendar year 2021 if the vaccine is as successful as it seems to be, based on these initial trials, that if enough people get it, that we eventually get to a point where it becomes safe again to peel away some of the restrictions that have been such a hardship,” she said.
But that means businesses like Whitesell’s have to hold on a little longer.
“It’s whether or not myself and all these other small businesses have enough reserves when all of this is over to keep going forward,” she said. “I think that if people continue to show up for small businesses, we can hang on.”
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