News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena Fire Chief Bill Forbush, left, gets a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine today

ALPENA — Local first responders received the coronavirus vaccine at the Alpena Public Safety building today as local public health officials announced three more Northeast Michiganders had died after being infected.

After months of responding to health emergencies during the pandemic and worrying about their own wellbeing, many emergency medical personnel will now have the added protection they need while helping others.

Employees are not mandated to get the vaccine.

During the early weeks of the pandemic this spring, anxiety was high because of all of the unknowns about the virus and a lack of personal protection gear, firefighter and paramedic Chris Morrison said.

As time passed and more was learned about the disease and how it is transmitted, stress levels eased somewhat, he said. Still, the thought of being exposed and unintentionally infecting his family was difficult to deal with.

“We were fearful, because nobody really knew anything about it,” Morrison said. “They didn’t know what the death rate was or what contractility rate was. It was all unknown, and all we knew was that it was bad. Once more data and information started to come out, we began to feel better, but it didn’t stop us from taking precautions.”

Alpena Fire Chief Bill Forbush said his crew has and will continue to step up during the pandemic. He said the pandemic added another layer to the high stress level of the job, but there are protocols in place to help employees cope.

Forbush said there have been times during the pandemic he was concerned about staffing. He said one employee contracted COVID-19 and missed time, and another was in quarantine because he was believed to be infected.

“We have had a number of people off taking care of family and other things, so staffing was a big concern,” he said. “That is the biggest benefit of the vaccine, is that we can stop worrying about losing a whole shift at a time from them being in quarantine.”

Today’s vaccinations happened as the deaths of two Alpena County residents and one Montmorency County resident brought to 42 the number of Northeast Michiganders who have died since the pandemic began.

Local public health officials today also reported 80 new infections since their last update on Friday, including 42 Alpena County residents, 33 Presque Isle County residents, and five Alcona County residents.

Health officials lowered by nine the cumulative number of infected Montmorency County residents after learning contact tracers had shared incorrect address information, Cathy Goike, spokeswoman for District Health Department No. 4, said.

The number of Montmorency County residents infected since the pandemic began is now 235.

That means that, as of today, 1,492 Northeast Michiganders were actively infected, meaning they’d been confirmed infected with COVID-19 but have not recovered or died, and could infect others.

As of today, 11 COVID-19 patients, two of whom were in intensive care, were hospitalized at MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena, according to state data. That’s nine fewer patients than were reported on Thursday, the last day the state updated hospital information.

The Alpena hospital was 35% full.

As of today, 93 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection across the state-designated, 18-county health care region that includes Alpena, Presque Isle, and Montmorency counties, according to state data.

Since the pandemic hit Michigan in mid-March, 1,903 Northeast Michiganders have been infected, according to local public health agencies.

Of those, 369 have recovered and 42 have died.

Also today, the Michigan Catholic Bishops released a joint statement saying the coronavirus vaccines are morally permissible and recommended for use, though cells from an aborted fetus was used in testing the vaccine.

“This connection to the abortion is very remote, however, and it is important to keep in mind that there are varying levels of responsibility,” the bishops wrote. “Greater moral responsibility lies with the researchers than with those who receive the vaccine. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has indicated that it is morally permissible to be vaccinated if there are no alternatives and there are serious health risks. Such serious health risks are present due to the current pandemic.”

A third vaccine, from AstraZeneca, is problematic, however, because cells from an aborted fetus were used in the design, production, development, and confirmatory testing of that vaccine. The bishops said that vaccine should only be used if there is no other option.

Rogers City announced today that City Hall will remain closed to the public until Jan. 4, but employees will be available to take phone calls from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Payments can be placed in the drop box or made through the city’s website.