President’s COVID Message
Dear Garden Club Members:
Important Message From Your President
You may have recently seen emails about the November meeting and the Holiday event. I would like to clarify for you what is happening.
The November meeting is still on at St. Michael’s by-the-sea Church. The time is different from our usual time. It will be 1:30 – 3:30 pm. Masks are required, same as if we were meeting in the library.
I am communicating to all of you today regarding attendance at our meetings and events. As you know, there is a current situation of what are called “breakthrough” cases of COVID. This is when someone who has been fully vaccinated becomes infected. While the good news is the vaccine appears to be very effective in preventing hospitalization and death from breakthrough cases, the individual still can become extremely sick. We have had a member who was infected with a breakthrough case and was quite sick for 10 days. Fortunately, she is relatively young (as compared to the rest of us) and generally healthy. We are thrilled that she is now well. The outcome could have been much worse.
Most of our members are senior citizens, many with underlying health conditions. This puts them at risk should they contract a breakthrough case. While we want all our members to continue to participate in our meetings and events, we also want to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone.
Recently, it came to light that we have members who have chosen to not get vaccinated. They have also chosen to not wear a mask or social distance at our meetings and events. This is unacceptable and puts other members at risk for infection.
I will be making a recommendation to the rest of the Board later today that includes a protocol for future meetings and events. It is likely that COVID will continue to be with us for a while so I feel it’s necessary to address it soon. We will strive to make our protocol as fair and reasonable as possible while still respecting an individual’s right to not be vaccinated and the right of others to not unknowingly be exposed.
I appreciate your support as we work through this difficult issue and look forward to all of us “growing together” in the future!