HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — As Guam marks the second year of its Covid-19 state of emergency declaration, and as it emerges from its fourth surge, 29-year-old Dylan Valdez said he’s already “moved on.”
“Honestly, I’m over it,” Valdez said, but wanted to make sure he’s still doing his part to keep others safe by taking his Pfizer booster shot on Monday.
But there are also others like Paul Santos, 58, who said he will only start to really venture out with people outside his family once there’s a declaration that the world is no longer in a Covid-19 pandemic.
If restrictions are lifted too soon, he said, the situation could get “out of control again.”
“And we’re back to square one,” Santos told The Guam Daily Post right after getting his Moderna booster shot at the Agana Shopping Center, the new government site for free Covid-19 vaccination.
Exactly two years ago today, on March 15, 2020, Guam confirmed its first three Covid-19 cases.
The numbers have since grown to more than 46,400.
A day before the government confirmed Guam’s first three confirmed Covid-19 cases, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, on March 14, 2020, declared a state of emergency to respond to Covid-19. That’s barely a year into her four-year term as the first Democrat governor in 16 years.
Some Republican senators on Monday said the public health emergency should end now, citing, among other things, unchecked government spending and hiring.
In the general community, people have varying views about the two-year-old state of emergency and where they fit in.
Many are ready to move on after vaccine mandates have been lifted and outdoor social gathering limits have been removed.
Students are back in classrooms, workers are back in offices, and restaurants, stores and tourism spots are back in business.
“I’m ready to go back to full normalcy,” Valdez said. “It’s been challenging but all we can do is push on, learn how to live with it.”
There are now more pressing issues he has to think about, he said, like coping with the higher cost of living and making sure his business, Comic Book Guam on the second floor of the Agana Shopping Center, stays afloat.
“After the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance ended, it was tough. Sales slowed down. And now with the attack on Ukraine by Russia, gas prices and other prices are going up. Those worry me more than whether we are still in pandemic or not,” Valdez said.
And yet, Guam’s Covid-19-related death toll continues to climb, reaching 338 as of Monday’s report from the Joint Information Center.
The latest fatality was a 55-year-old male, partially vaccinated, with underlying health conditions who tested positive on Feb. 21. JIC said it was notified Monday about the latest Covid-19-related fatality that occurred on March 14 at the Guam Memorial Hospital.
‘Living with Covid’
Tiara Moreno, 23, said after two years, she’s already adjusted to the new normal of “living with Covid.”
Unlike the first year or year-and-a-half, she said she’s not worried as much and part of that is taking the recommended steps to protect oneself. She took her Pfizer booster shot.
Tammy Dilla, 35, said she thinks the governor has done a “good job so far” but she thinks the government is lifting the restrictions faster than they should be.
“Leave some of the restrictions, don’t be so fast to lift them especially with new variant. How fast the restrictions are being lifted versus the question of is it safe enough to do it,” Dilla said.
Her husband and their two younger children got their first Pfizer vaccine on Monday. It took a while, she said, but the whole family planned the timing of their vaccination. Their two oldest children got their first and second vaccination with her.
“Our two other children got theirs with me, and then the two others with my husband, so the kids can be comfortable,” Dilla said.
For Santos, who said he’s still declining invitations to hang out with people outside his family, he’s still worried that Covid-19 can come rushing back in surges if Guam does not carefully plan the lifting of restrictions.
“I’m not racist, I’m not biased, but the governor should put her foot down and stop the airlines from bringing in people from foreign countries. They bring other issues and then contract from one person to the next person and then it gets out of hand and we’re back to square one again,” he said.
Santos said if it’s not necessary, people should still refrain from going outside.
“I feel that why should I go out and contract disease from other people that are walking around?” he said. “And then other people expect the government to help them with their medical needs and whatever because they contract the disease.”
96% vaccinated; lower turnout for boosters
Free Covid-19 vaccinations have moved to the second floor of the Agana Shopping Center. Vaccinations at the University of Guam or Guam Community College have ceased.
Capt. Denise Chargualaf, commander, Task Force Medical, Joint Task Force 671, Guam National Guard, said the new vaccination site seems to be “good fit for the number” of people they have seen coming in the past couple of weeks.
“We’ve seen anywhere between 50 and 100 people come every day,” she said.
In the first hour of their first day at Agana Shopping Center on Monday, they were able to vaccinate 25 individuals.
The Guard, which has been providing free Covid-19 vaccination in support of the Department of Public Health and Social Services, used to vaccinate more than 2,000 individuals a day, peaking at 2,182 on April 10, 2021 at UOG, Chargualaf said.
Nearly 96% of Guam’s vaccine-eligible population have been fully vaccinated, but only about 56,000-plus got their booster shots
George Washington High School senior Lee Apimwar, 17, left, is accompanied by his mother Marian Sony, center, as he receives his second dose of the Moderna vaccine during the first day of the Covid-19 vaccination clinic at the Agana Shopping Center Monday.
