Editor’s Note: This is part two of a three-part series brought to you by Richland County Public Health/Count on Me Richland County and its efforts to encourage all community members to consider vaccination through CountonmeRC.org.
In early 2020, 56-year-old Robert Hardin-Leeth had plans to travel to all five of the Great Lakes and drive down the east coast on Route 1 with his husband after retiring in 2019. Then March 2020 struck and the pandemic hit the United States full force.
“It’s amazing to me that we’re actually living through this,” Hardin-Leeth said. “So my first thought, when I heard about it, was, ‘Oh, this sounds like it might be bad.’ But I was reserving judgment because I wasn’t sure.”
Hardin-Leeth, who lives in Columbus, frequently visits the Mansfield area to participate in the Renaissance Theatre as a performer. At the beginning of the pandemic, like everyone, he was forced to stay home and console himself with socially distant activities such as riding his bike, playing with his cats and gardening.
As soon as the vaccine became available for him in early 2021, he didn’t think twice about getting it.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Hardin-Leeth said. “My spouse has Type 1 diabetes, so he’s at high risk. I have asthma and a couple of other little irritating health issues that would make getting sick a real concern. So we were very interested in making sure that we are protected.”
The process of getting the vaccine was easy, according to Hardin-Leeth. He experienced a fever for two days but afterward, he felt fine. His next step toward further protection against the virus will be receiving the third dose once it becomes available for his age group.
Since the announcement of the vaccine and that a third dose would be needed, there’s been mixed reactions and hesitancy from the general public to take part. Hardin-Leeth said that it’s good for people to have questions and want clarity on the things they don’t understand, however, there should be respect for medical professionals.
“These are scientists who are following very closely a unique medical circumstance that’s never happened before,” Hardin-Leeth said. “That’s why this is so confusing to scientists — because this is all new. And I think people miss that part sometimes, or they forget it.”
“This isn’t the annual influenza that everyone is used to,” Hardin-Leeth said. “This is a novel virus, it’s never been here before. And the longer we allow it to run unchecked, the more at risk we are of having something horrifying develop.”
Hardin-Leeth encourages everyone to receive the vaccine in order to take care of themselves as well as their community, especially people over the age of 50.
“If you’re 50 and older, you probably have something else wrong with you. And it’s just the way it is. So you need to take care of yourself, and (getting the vaccine) is part of taking care of yourself.”
“You don’t live on an island, most of us aren’t that lucky. So you’re going to come in contact with other people and you need to take care of each other. It’s the same thing as not littering, in my opinion, you take care of the environment where you live. And part of that is making sure that you’re not infecting people with this virus.”
