Test Message Received; Vax Message Muddled

From Long Wharf to Dixwell, people lined up for hours to get tested for Covid-19 as the Omicron variant continued to rage.

The hour or hours-long wait has been daily for people seeking official tests at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center on Dixwell Avenue.

Meanwhile, the city distributed thousands of free at-home rapid tests to drivers lined up in the morning at Sports Haven on Long Wharf, then on foot on the Green.

It was clear that people have gotten the message that it’s a good idea to take a test if they’ve shown symptoms or potentially been exposed to someone who has Covid-19.

On the Dixwell line, a second important message was more muddled: That it’s most important to be fully vaccinated, including getting a third ​“booster” shot. All over the world, those boosters have prevented almost everyone from suffering serious illness, preventing people from dying, and keeping them out of the hospital. 

But vaccinated people can still come down with mild cases of Covid. Because of those ​“breakthrough” cases, however milder, some people on line expressed skepticism.

Maliik Tinney was not one of them. Tinney waited an hour in the cold outside of Hill Health Center on Dixwell to get tested for Covid-19 because he had had exposure to the virus, after his mother contracted it. Tinney said that it was more of a hassle to make an appointment on MyChart than it was to show up in person to get tested.

Tinney is vaccinated. He said he knows it’s not a cure-all solution. He still advocates getting the vaccine regardless of people still contracting the virus even after getting vaxxed. ​“What it allows you to do is have a better fighting chance towards the symptoms that come with the virus,” Tinney said. ​“Vaccines get better with time. Time advances technology.”

Others who made it to the front of the line after waiting for hours, like Zona Taylor, expressed doubts about the vaccine. She said she doesn’t want to get vaccinated regardless of knowing how transmissible the virus is.

Taylor and her daughter live right down the street from the site, so they decided to line up Thursday for tests.

“I had a home test and it was negative, but I feel better about coming here to get tested so that it’s on record for my job,” Taylor said. ​“I want to get tested because I’ve been staying away from my job to make sure that I absolutely don’t have it but I don’t even know what’s even in the vaccine. That’s why I’m not sure if I want to put something in my body when I don’t even know exactly what it is.”

Bruna Silva was seen sniffling in line with red, puffy eyes. She returned from Florida this week, andstarted to feel symptoms. Silva is vaccinated but also personally knows people who are still getting the virus regardless of being vaxxed.

Silva said that for the most part she feels OK. She is hoping that her symptoms are a result of only a cold. She is having some doubts about vaccination.

“I work in nursing homes, and I’ve seen that people are getting Covid-19, but they’re not getting as sick,” Silva said. ​“I’m not losing hope in the vaccines but at the same time, I am. I just feel like things should be better for us. Maybe in the future, I guess.”

Mother and Son Esther Kokuletage and Ryan Rugarema waited in the very back of the line, which snaked all the way around the back of the Dixwell lot. Someone at Kokuletage’s job tested positive for coronavirus, so they wanted to get tested. Kokuletage said that it upsets her when she hears people doubting the credibility of the vaccine.

“Especially now saying, ​‘Oh it doesn’t matter if you get vaccinated or not. You’ll still end up sick.’” Kokuletage said. ​“But it prevents you from taking up space in hospitals.” 

City Health Director Maritza Bond’s response to these arising speculations about the vaccine’s credibility: These cases are often of those who are not boosted.

Bond said that vaccines lessen symptoms and fatalities. She said that even if a person does get Covid, their symptoms are much more mild than if you’re not vaccinated.

“The breakthrough cases that we are seeing are often those who did not have that booster or the booster had been more than six months” ago, Bond said. ​“We are starting to see a trend in that.”

Bond said that the majority of hospitalizations are of people who aren’t vaccinated at all. Including children.

“I think if anything this should give people faith in the vaccine,” Bond said. ​“Because if you’re not vaccinated, the chances that you’re going to be in an ICU [intensive care unit] is significantly higher.”

Bond was seen on Thursday morning with Mayor Justin Elicker and city emergency management chief Rick Fontana along with volunteers in the parking lot of Sports Haven at 600 Long Wharf Dr. They were handing out 8,000 free rapid at-home test kits as well as masks. Each household received two kits that hold two tests.

This came after the city’s Covid-19 positivity test rate skyrocketed to 28 percent as of Wednesday. The Sports Haven giveaway was scheduled to start at 10 a.m.; it was for people in cars only. (A second giveaway for walk-ups was scheduled for later Thursday on the Green.) Hundreds of drivers had arrived outside Sports Haven by 9 a.m.. so the giveaway was practically forced to start early to lessen traffic.

The site was strictly for residents only. One non-resident was seen at the site receiving one test kit out of pity, because he had come to the site on foot. However, many drivers did try in vain to score extra kits, claiming they were picking up for two households. Volunteers of the site made sure to carefully check each ID thoroughly.

Wilfredo Zayas was seen in line with a smile. He didn’t have to wait more than 20 minutes before nearly reaching the front of the line. Zayas wasn’t feeling sick. He works in public transit, and wanted to make sure that he can test himself.

“I think there’s a lot of people who want to do the same. That’s why there is such a high demand for the kits,” Zayas said. ​“If everyone could do it, then it’s the best thing to do.”

Stephanie Wilson, who wasn’t that far behind Zayas, said that right now everyone is trying to get a test just to make sure they haven’t contracted the virus.

“I don’t think I have it,” Wilson said. ​“I just want to stay on the safe side.”

Many people are testing themselves out of extra precaution.

“We talk about this at every session: If people are symptomatic, then they should get tested. Or if they had an exposure then they should get tested,” Bond said.

Fontana said that the city is trying to provide kits for everyone. He said that the city provided 4,000 kits to the schools before even receiving any from the state. He said that the city can expect more mass distributions in the future.

“We’re trying to distribute as many as we can to people,” Fontana said. ​“The city doesn’t want to over promise and underdeliver but underpromise, and overdeliver.”