Hello and welcome to PBS39 in WLVT community update on coronavirus presented by Capital Blue Cross and brought to you with help from our community partner Lehigh Valley Health Network.

We are coming to you live from the Public Media Center in Bethlehem.

I'm Brittany Sweeney our guest today include a doctor who's been involved with the Lehigh Valley vaccination efforts from the start.

Also here is a funeral director to tell us about the federal government's Covid-19 funeral reimbursement program.

Our guests will be with us in just a couple of minutes.

If you have a question, please give us a call.

The phone number is 44 eight two one zero zero zero eight.

We'll answer some of those questions live.

Plus four coronavirus updates.

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Now, you can do that at our website coronavirus a Lehigh Valley dog.

You can find helpful information there in both English and Spanish.

Now let's take a look at today's top headlines.

The Department of Health says more than 9.2 million vaccinations have been given in Pennsylvania.

Almost 3.9 million people are fully vaccinated and another 1.8 million have at least a first dose.

Today, the state reported 1023 new coronavirus cases.

It was the fewest number of new infections in months.

The states also reported 11 more deaths to date, a total of 26,500 50 Pennsylvanians have died from Covid-19 Lehigh Valley Health Network will hold another drive through a clinic Wednesday Dorney Park this one with no appointments necessary.

First doses of the Moderna vaccine will be administered between eight am and four pm Now folks can just drive up.

It will be the first time appointments won't be required for the Dorney Park clinics.

Last week, LVHN stopped requiring appointments at all of its clinics and Mother's Day weekend meant bigger crowds at US airports.

The Transportation Security Administration said agents screened just over 1.7 million people on Sunday.

It's the highest number since March of 2020 Sundays.

Traffic edged out the previous record set just last Friday.

Airlines say most of the people on flights now are leisure traveling, going to destinations within the United States.

It's time now to meet our guests for the day.

Dr Alex Benjamin is chief of infection Control and prevention at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

He has been present for many of LVHN vaccination clinics.

Jamie Connell is a funeral director in Bethlehem his business and the families he works with have seen many challenges and changes in the past year.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

Mr Connel will be with you in just a little bit.

We want to begin today with Dr Benjamin.

Dr Benjamin, great to have you back on the show.

Hi, how are you Gamma We're doing OK over here, Doctor.

It seems like Covid-19 vaccines, they are plentiful in supply right now.

Some states have even begun asking the federal government for fewer doses.

So I'm wondering if you can put into perspective how the situation has changed over the past month or so.

What are you seeing here?

In the Lehigh Valley?

Yeah, so I think that trend is that sort of nationwide trend is happening here in the Lehigh Valley.

We are seeing even with our large mass vaccination events like Dorney Park, like Pocono Raceway that we're seeing decreased numbers of people wanting to have appointments.

And so I think that's why we shifted our strategy to a no appointment necessary strategy at this point.

Essentially all we're seeing is that there's plenty of vaccine out there, much more so than in prior months.

But now that we've opened things up to younger and younger population.

We've gotten through most of our seniors now we're just not seeing people wanting to schedule appointments and which is a little troublesome.

I think in some regards.

There are some very pragmatic reasons.

If you offer a drive through on a Wednesday from to for a lot people to work.

So there is that component to it.

But on our weekend mass vaccination clinics, we're still not seeing the kind of robust response to opening these events like before I think back in January and February.

Well, really February once we opened a mass and then all the appointments will be taken up within a couple hours and we're just not seeing that kind robust response any more.

Is this something that you expected, though, as time went on and more people were able to get the vaccine?

Was this expected Gamma Where were you expecting things to be more in demand at this point?

I think we would have expected more demand knowing the kinds of risks and problems that Covid poses for not only our seniors but also for younger people.

I would have expected to see a lot more people request vaccine, but it certainly we're not in the position any more to where people were kind of pushing each other out of line to get to vaccine.

I think there are a lot of places to get vaccine now and I think people are sort of weighing the risks and benefits.

I think the other thing that I worry about is that the community is thinking that because cases are going down and we're seeing a lot more information about vaccines and the CDC saying things about, you know, kind of going easy on travel and masking outdoors.

And I think people are feeling more and more comfortable with the situation and that doesn't necessarily mean that there's no longer any risk in the communities, even though the trends in all the counties that we serve and show a trend downward in the number of cases per hundred thousand residents, high, very high risk, according to the CDC.

So we're not out of the woods just yet.

I think vaccination is helping and I think if people can take part in that, they're contributing to the improvement in our communities.

Sure.

I think as more things open up and the weather gets a little nicer, everybody's kind of more lax.

But you're right, we still need to be vigilant and still need to pay attention to the safety guidelines.

We just saw some video of some of the LVHN vaccination clinics, one being the one at Dorney Park, as I mentioned, no longer an appointment needed for that.

So this Wednesday, this upcoming, is that when that starts, will people need an appointment this Wednesday when you have that clinic out at Dorney Park?

So not for this Wednesday.

You can make an appointment if you like, but if you want to just drive up, we are accepting those people.

We will register you in our system and you'll get the vaccine just like people who have had appointments as well.

Sure.

And Dr Benjamin, if you could elaborate on what folks need to bring if they are getting vaccinated, do they need a license Gamma Do they need an insurance card?

What should they bring with them?

If they're just driving up to get vaccinated?

So think just some sort of proof of identification Gamma Know we're not obviously we're not charging people for the vaccine.

So insurance isn't necessarily required and that's pretty much it.

Dr Benjamin, this is kind of an interesting one.

In Buffalo, New York, a clinic was held at a craft brew pub.

They were giving a glass and a pint to those getting vaccinated.

Can you talk about some of these incentives that you've heard about if you have heard about any and do they work?

Do you think that this is something that we should bring to the Lehigh Valley in this Gamma About a thousand people came and got vaccinated and who knows, maybe it could have been because of the free beer.

Yeah, absolutely.

I wish I was at that clinic and I wish they were going to actually years.

But I think, you know, and I think Donald Trump help has done something very similar.

You know, they had a baseball game at Coca-Cola Park where they said that if you received a vaccine, you that free entry to the game.

So I think that the idea is to be more creative about engaging people into getting the vaccine, trying to social events like a baseball game, being at a pub.

I will say that the one thing that gives me a little bit of makes me a little nervous is that if this is your first dose of vaccine, then technically you're not fully vaccinated.

So to put people into a social situation, a large that like a baseball game comes with its own sort of risks.

Now, I'm very confident that Kolapechka Park very stringent about wearing masks and keeping people such long distance.

And there is that component as well.

But again, I think the idea about being creative about how to engage people is something that we're going to have to look more and more into.

I think tying it into events, social events is helpful because people want to feel like they are getting something out of being vaccinated.

And I think events like the brewpub, I think we're going to have to start looking more and more into those sorts of things.

And engaging people on their own level.

Do you think that these are the strategies we need to use to reach younger people?

Are they the people we need to reach at this point when it comes to vaccinations?

And do you think that these incentive programs is going to do that vaccinate younger generations?

Yeah, again, I think being creative is going to be and reaching people where there is going to be change to increasing the number of vaccines that are used.

So, you know, social media is a platform that we are looking into now.

There's insurance to not charge to social media.

But remember, you know, if you if we go along the lines as sort of like an average Lehigh Valley Health Network says you should get your vaccine and this is how you do it.

You know, on some some platforms of social media, all it takes is a click and that sort of advertising goes away.

So we have to be a little more creative about how we engage people again.

I think what it boils down to at this point is not so much the science and the efficacy and science there.

I think people have access to that.

They have access to our health networks like ours to provide information.

But I think people want to hear personal stories.

I think people want to hear that their grandmother got vaccinated, did well and that the person that they were with in the grocery store is doing well after their vaccine.

So I think it has to be a little more personal.

It has to be, again, tied to social events and the ability for that for people to be a little more or less restricted in the things that they can do once they're vaccinated.

In terms of vaccinating younger generations, Pfizer vaccine could be could get emergency use for that younger age group, the 12 to 15-year-olds, as soon as this week.

Can you talk to us a little bit about that vaccine?

Is that something that is the same?

Is that Pfizer vaccine the same as an adult would get or are vaccines that children get different in anyway?

So in this case, the Pfizer vaccine is exactly the same as the preliminary studies on the 12 to 15-year-old Greg Schultz 100 and efficacy in preventing disease and severe hospitalization.

So very similar, if not better than what we were seeing in the adult trial.

So we expect that the FDA will review the data this week and we hope to have an answer about vaccinating this additional group of 12 to 15-year-olds in the coming weeks.

We've already received requests from school districts about assisting them with doing vaccination campaigns in these areas.

And so we're trying to pivot to this new group of people who will be eligible for vaccine and how about clinics?

Do you think parents would be able to walk in with their 12 or 15-year-olds and just bring them in to get vaccinated Gamma I think that's already happened.

I think people are anticipate that the emergency use authorization is going to go through.

So we're already hearing about clinics that are already Reading, Presidnt Biden, North Whitehall, Moore Township, the hospital based clinics that were there making preparation to start getting younger and younger people vaccinated and as a physician, would you feel comfortable vaccinating your patients who are 12 to 15 at this point if Pfizer came this week and said we're we got the green light, we are ready to go?

Yes, absolutely.

I should say that I'm a I'm trained in an infectious disease and so I can't speak so much for the people under the age of 18.

But I think the data safety and efficacy provided by Pfizer that we should hear back from Moderna shows that the benefit to risk a favor is getting the vaccine.

And so I think the other thing that I think is important about this age group is that we this is showing us that I think we need to hear from our I think people parents want to hear from our pediatricians, you know, that this is safe and Antifa.

And I think as part of that, we are working on making sure that the vaccine can also be given in these trusted places in the pediatricians office so that in their familiar eyes and staff members, health care workers who are looking out for these kids.

And when it comes to I know it's a couple months away Scytl, but when it comes to the new school year, you know, school this school year hybrid now kids are going back into class, but next school year that cut this coming fall.

Do you think do you have any idea whether schools are going to go back fully in person classes, that kind of thing?

It's hard to say.

I think the current forecast for an Covid infections seem to be a sharp decline sort of towards the end of July.

And of course, that would be right now the question is in August or September, October, I don't know what's going to happen with.

The other effect of this is that as people become more and more comfortable, travel restrictions, people will be travel more as we're seeing, as you mentioned, about the Mother's Day travel.

And so there's always that effect, that sort of mixing of populations in different states, going to different areas, visiting grandparents.

So we'll have to see if there's an impact from that.

But I think a vaccination piece is prime to allow school districts to do in-person classrooms.

Again, I think there's already data out there from CDC looking retrospectively Google Classrooms are not the basis of increased risk for acquisition Covid.

And so I think that combined with the vaccination piece should make educators feel very comfortable about bringing people back.

Now, like I said, things change week by week, month by month.

So I barring any sort of new surge during the summer time, which right now again is not forecast, then I think that the plans to go back in time are certainly worth discussing and preparing people for show.

I think that if we've learned anything over the past year, it's that anything can happen at this point.

Just be prepared.

Dr Alex Benjamin from Lehigh Valley Health Network, thank you so much for joining us today.

No problem.

Thank you.

We continue this community update on coronavirus on PBS39.

You can hear the reboard cast on the radio tonight at nine 30 on 91 3W Elvir.

Now let's bring in our next guest.

Jamie Connell is among the fourth generation of his family to operate Connell Funeral Home on East 4th Street in Bethlehem.

Jamie, welcome.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely.

I want to start with something that I think many people don't know about FEMA's Covid-19 Funeral Assistance Program, families who have lost loved one to Covid-19 can be reimbursed for up to $9,000 in funeral expenses.

It was all part of that relief bill approved by Congress last December.

You have many families as clients who are eligible for this, unfortunately.

Can you tell us how it all works Gamma Sure.

So FEMA's program allows for up @to $9,000 in reimbursement.

And the easiest thing for for families to do is to go on to FEMA dot and gather the information at the website.

There is a one 800 number that they have a call.

We're being told that the amount of time it takes to get through the phone call is anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.

And once the information is passed along over the phone, they have to upload some information.

The death certificate being one of those copy of funeral statement or what the cost would be for the funeral.

Now is this for funerals that just happened in 20, 20 or this ongoing?

This is ongoing as of right now, we're being told that it goes through 20, 25 as of right now.

We're also being told that there's no cap on the funding so anyone can apply moving forward.

Jamie, can you give us an idea, as I mentioned to you, your funeral home?

I misspoke.

It's not on Fourth Streets on broad Broad Street in Bethlehem.

Can you give us an idea of how many families you've seen come in and had to bury loved ones because of Covid-19?

Can you talk about your experience over the past year or shoura over the past year we've served a little over a little under 100 families that had loved ones passed due to Covid in the very beginning, April and May of last year.

It was very stressful just because we weren't sure exactly what was going on and exactly what we were supposed to be doing.

So luckily we were able to follow all the CDC guidelines.

We got great help from the hospital networks that we have in the Valley.

The city of Bethlehem health department was a tremendous and the associations that we belong.

We're also a great a great deal of help to us.

And our staff was able to to pivot as we needed to and make changes and comply with the restrictions that were we're coming down.

Sure.

Covid-19 just took a toll on so many people.

But then those families who lost loved ones to it takes that extra toll.

But folks who have had multiple family members, unfortunately more funding.

It's not just one person at a time, is that correct?

It can be up to a certain amount that that's correct.

But you can have multiple family members that have passed and you can still apply for benefits for each of those family members.

It seems like this has not gotten as much attention as the stimulus money or that kind of thing.

Why do you think that is?

Why do you think this is an out there for more people to know about Gamma I'm not quite sure it's something that if you're a funeral home that served, you didn't reach out to you that you almost have to go looking for or help a friend or family member hears about it.

We were able to contact the families that we work for.

We reached out to them and let them know what they needed to do.

The most important thing is that the Covid-19 must be written somewhere on the death certificate.

So if you had a loved one that passed during this time frame, Covid-19 must be listed on that death certificate.

That's the most important piece of this to qualify, I'm sure.

Jamie, in the first step in this is making that phone call.

Can you reiterate how to do this again if folks are interested in that information?

And they have to call a certain number?

Correct.

You're sure FEMA has a hotline that's set up it's eight four four six eight four six three three three and they're available Monday through Friday, 9am to 9:00 pm.

And again, what we're understanding is there's varying times in how long it will take.

The information that you need is really biographical information about your loved one that passed that will help you get through the process a little quicker.

All right.

And that number one more time is eight four four.

If we could put that graphic up one more time, just so I can reiterate that eight four four six eight four six three three three.

Now, Jamie, you've said that this year has been the saddest year you've seen since you've been doing this.

Why is that?

I mean, for obvious reasons.

But talk to us about that on a personal level.

How has this impacted you Gamma I believe that we are we're already experiencing loss in the restrictions that we were under and that we were not able to see family members.

And then for families to lose a loved one on top of that just compounds that grief and our staff and I, we saw so many families that didn't get to see their loved one or get to be with their loved one as they passed or as they were going through that dying process.

And that was that was very difficult.

So we were grateful that we were able to be there to support those families and it was just a very, very difficul time for them.

I can only imagine and when you had to do these funerals, did you have to do how kind of changes did you have to make?

Did you have to do drive through funerals?

Did you have to take things outside?

How did you alter what you @typically do for traditional service?

Sure.

We always wanted to be on the right side of history and we always wanted to be in the fight with the families and the way that we were able to do that was to follow those CDC guidelines.

We did have some drive through visitations where family members were outside and cars drive by to pay their respects.

One of the other things that we were able to do is move a little forward into the future as far as funeral service is concerned.

And we had some some video as we're doing right now.

We had some video Zoom call services where it is very interesting because there were some services where we were able to reach people across the world where we never would have to to do that.

Years ago we had a service where there was a family that was from Peru and unfortunately% the family couldn't be here and we actually had more people on Zoom call in Peru than we had here in Bethlehem.

So that was very interesting.

Sure.

Do you think that's something?

Are there some of these, you know, alterations that you've had to make?

Are some of these going to stick moving forward as things continue to open up more?

Absolutely.

For us, we think that we will continue to offer the video streaming.

We are also able to make arrangements online where we're able to pick out caskets and burials and create obituaries and all of that's done online, whereas used to be used to have to come in and actually sit face to face in person.

I don't see that going away either.

And of course, there were capacity limits throughout the pandemic for how many people could be in the funeral home at one time.

Will they open up with these new relaxed mitigation efforts that the governor announced happening May 31st, will you be able to welcome more people through the doors Gamma Yes, we will certainly be able to have more people entered into the funeral homes.

We've had very first restrictions were about a hundred people.

Then it went to 75 50 25.

And at one point we were only able to have ten people in the funeral home at one time.

And as you families, many families are much larger than ten people.

So that was certainly a difficult time for families to have to pick and choose who have to be here for services.

Fortunately we were able to provide other opportunities other times that those families would be able to come in and pay their respects to.

I unfortunately lost my mother during the pandemic and I think that was one of the hardest parts is having to pick and choose who could come in and pay their respects.

Now with these mitigation efforts kind of being relaxed and lifted, are you seeing people planning their services kind of holding off right now while not that many people can come in and planning them for the future date where more people can come and pay their respects?

Yes, we're working with the West Easton restrictions being lifted.

We're starting to get a few more phone calls about families who were planning to have services and weren't able to do so.

And now we have some services planned for June, July.

What some families are doing or picking some important dates or some some special dates to them and we'll be able to serve those families at that.

Sure.

Do you recommend that to folks who maybe didn't weren't able to get that full experience Gamma Absolutely.

Absolutely.

What we're hearing from some of these families that we're serving is that they miss the gathering.

There's something to be said for an email.

It's great to have that support from friends and family, but nothing takes the place of that face to face in person can Shaw funeral directors are already of that liaison between family, friends trying to make the process a little bit easier.

You also act almost as a counselor to these folks.

What did you say to them to enroll them during this just awful last year of planning funerals and with the death rate so high, unfortunately, there are no magic words to to make these families feel better.

We always just let them know that we'll do everything we can to help them through these tough times and everything we can to help them through the next few days.

Help celebrate the life of their loved one.

It's very difficult to put that into words, but we do that by our actions where we're here for families when they need them.

And we hope that that goes along with shorts Jamie Connell from Connell Funeral Home and Bethlehem.

Thank you so much for sharing that information, especially about the FEMA program for funeral reimbursement for those who lost their lives to Covid.

Thank you so much for joining us here and we thank you for joining us for community update on Coronavirus will be here at 4:00pm each Monday, Wednesdy and Friday on PBS.

39 and on the radio at nine 30 those same nights on WLVT or news.

We'll be back Wednesday at four o'clock with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to discuss how the pandemic has led people to rediscover the great outdoors.

If you have a question, please leave it on our website, PBS39.org.

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I'm Brittany Sweeney CDC.