Otsego County conducts survey on COVID-19 pandemic

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·3 min read

Oct. 3—The Otsego County Department of Public Health is seeking input from county residents about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them and why they may have been reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The survey asks residents how they were affected by the pandemic, how their current income compares to their income prior to the pandemic, if they are vaccinated, if they haven't received the vaccine or booster, why not and where they go to get advice about preventing COVID-19. Public Health Graduate Fellow Abigail Mosenthin said in an email, "absolutely no personal information will be shared with the public as far as who has responded and what their answers were. Also, at any time, if someone wants their answers removed from the response list, they are able to do so by simply contacting me.

"I am asking these questions in order to find out the specific reasons some in Otsego County are resistant to getting the COVID-19 vaccine," Mosenthin said. "One message that I am hoping to relay to the unvaccinated individuals in Otsego County is that I just want to hear their opinions and reasons. I am not doing this to make anyone feel a certain way for being unvaccinated or to try to persuade them to get vaccinated. I just want everyone in Otsego County to have their voice heard in regard to vaccinations and I am hoping to do so with this survey."

Mosenthin said she is compiling the results as the surveys are completed and "my hopes are to improve how we as a health department respond to future health emergencies and find out ways we can better educate our communities in the future." She said she hopes to publish a paper about her findings once she is done collecting responses. "This paper can hopefully assist others who are planning on conducting a similar survey in the future as well as make vaccine hesitancy data in Otsego County available to anyone who is interested."

Mosenthin is a doctoral student in public health at Capella University. She received her bachelor's degree in biology from Utica College and a master's degree in public health from Southern New Hampshire University, she said. She is the state Public Health Corps Graduate Fellow for Otsego County. In the 2021 State of the State address, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the establishment of the public health corps to support COVID-19 vaccination operations and to increase preparedness for future public health emergencies. "My position is designed to allow persons with a passion for improving the health and well-being of Otsego County residents in promoting health equity across populations who experience disparity," she said.

"As of right now I do not have a deadline for submitting surveys," she said. "I am hoping to collect information for as long as I can in order to receive responses from as many Otsego County residents as possible."

Residents can take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RXND826. Paper copies are also available by contacting Mosenthin at 607-547-7543.

Instructions on how to return a paper copy are listed at the bottom of the online survey.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.