18 GRAB BAG DECEMBER 15�22, 2021 AN ASSORTMENT OF MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS COVID-19 Vaccine Other vaccine events offered in December: Art Center East/Contributed image After a 22-month hiatus, the Grande Ronde Community Choir will resume rehearsals Jan. 6, 2022. For information, visit www.artcentereast.org. Grande Ronde Community Choir starting up again The choir hasn’t gathered since March 2020 Go! staff L A GRANDE — The Grande Ronde Community Choir is welcoming back singers on Jan. 6, 2022 — the fi rst time since winter term March 2020. Art Center East announced that the choir will start again for winter term on Jan. 6 with rehearsals on Thursdays from 7-8:30 p.m. in Loso Hall, room 123, on the campus of Eastern Oregon University. The music director is Michael Frasier and choir accompanist is Lanetta Paul. No audition is required to sing in the choir; register online at www.artcentereast.org. According to ACE, all singers age 14 and older who wish to participate in the choir must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 6. Singers are also required to wear masks — a special vocal performance mask (machine washable) will be provided to each GRCC singer. “When the choir last sang together, the pandemic was just starting,” Frasier said. “We closed our March 5, 2020, concert singing ‘Lean on Me’ and ‘We Shall Overcome’ with the audience. I’m choosing pieces for GRCC’s March 3, 2022, concert that will bring an uplifting and positive tone to our long-awaited resumption of group singing.” For more information about Grande Ronde Community Choir or other ACE Community Music Programs, contact ACE Outreach Coordinator Moira Madden at outreach@artcen- tereast.org or call the art center at 541-624-2800. Find out more about ACE’s arts opportunities (including classes and events) at www. artcentereast.org. The center is at 1006 Penn Ave. in La Grande and is open Wednesday through Friday from noon-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Location: Center for Human Development Time: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm every Friday with the exception of New Year’s Eve in addition to Christmas Eve. Additional options: Scheduled appointments available throughout the week. Vaccines offered: 1st dose, 2nd dose, 3rd doses and booster vaccines. All Covid vaccine configurations will be available including pediatric vaccination. Other pediatric and adult immunizations also available at CHD. CDC General Vaccine Info: COVID-19 vaccines are effective COVID 19-vaccines are effective and can reduce the risk of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. Learn more about the different COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccines also help children and adults from getting seriously ill even if they do get COVID-19. While COVID-19 tends to be milder in children than adults, it can make children very sick, require hospitalization, and some children have even died. Children with underlying medical conditions are more at risk for severe illness compared to children without underlying medical conditions. Getting children ages 5 years and older vaccinated can help protect them from serious short- and long-term complications. Getting everyone ages 5 years and older vaccinated can protect families and communities, including friends and family who are not eligible for vaccination and people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Booster Information from CDC: Fast Facts Everyone age 18 and older is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine booster beginning Nov. 20, 2021. Some people are strongly advised get a booster dose to protect themselves and others. You can choose which vaccine to get. The COVID-19 vaccines are extraordinarily effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death. That said, we are seeing immunity drop over time, espe- cially in people over age 50 and those with compromised immune systems who are more likely to experience severe disease, hospitalization and death. For these people, another dose boosts their immunity, sometimes greater than what was achieved after the primary, two-dose series. Health experts strongly recommend people over age 50, people over 18 who live in long-term care facil- ities, and anyone who received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine get a booster dose. Younger, healthy people may also get a booster dose to protect themselves and others. A booster will re-build neutralizing antibodies that strengthen the body’s ability to fight getting a breakthrough case. Even if you’re not at high risk, you could be infected and then pass it on to others, such as children too young to be vaccinated, the elderly, or people who are immunocompromised. Booster doses help people maintain strong immunity to disease longer. The first vaccine series built up the immune system to make the antibodies needed to fight the disease. Over time, the immune response weakens. A booster dose stimulates the initial response and tends to result in higher antibody levels that help people maintain their immunity longer. Boosters take about two weeks to bring up the immune response. This continues to be studied, but we can reliably say it takes two weeks to bring the immune response up to or better than that after the primary series. www.chdinc.org 541-962-8800