Dr. Dobbs joins Meridian officials for COVID-19 update

The City of Meridian held a virtual meeting regarding a COVID-19 update for the city and Lauderdale County. This meeting included city officials, hospital leaders and state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. The meeting began with Mayor Percy Bland addressing Dr. Dobbs on his recent COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Dobbs said he felt well after the injection and had no side effects.

“I didn’t have any problems," said Dobbs. "I actually went and got a workout that afternoon. Pretty much all the people I’ve talked to say they haven’t had symptoms.”

Topics of the meeting included rising case numbers in the county, the COVID-19 vaccine and the importance of safety guidelines during the holiday. Dobbs says they are expecting numbers to continue rising after the Christmas holiday.

“He communicated in regards to what happened after Thanksgiving, we also know that’s going to happen after Christmas,” said Mayor Percy Bland. “So to make people see the reason why we ask everyone to wear a mask and the reasons why we’re being more restricted here locally is because we’re in a situation where our numbers are rising.”

Dobbs advises everyone to keep small gatherings during the holiday and do most celebrating outside. He also says people can spread the virus without displaying any symptoms.

“When we talk about social events, please remember that there’s a statewide to 10 people or less. So you can’t have a holiday party, it’s against the law,” said Dobbs.

Also during the meeting, hospital leaders expressed their overload in the healthcare system and hope the vaccine can flatten the curve once it arrives.

“The vaccine does finally seem like finally a break from that,” said Dr. Fred Duggan with Rush Health System. We take care of patients, but it is still near capacity.”

According to Dobbs, the state of Mississippi is set to receive the Moderna vaccine next week, being provided to healthcare workers first.