Michele Munz鈥檚 memorable stories from 2021: The fight against COVID and the price paid by health care workers

The COVID-19 pandemic has definitely taken this health reporter on a roller-coaster ride this year.

The public went from being exuberant over the arrival of vaccines, with crowds scrambling to find doses, to falling victim to misinformation and struggling with lagging vaccination rates.

When cases and hospitalizations waned in the spring, my list of stories to write finally began to include issues not related to COVID-19. But that sense of normalcy took a sharp turn over the summer as Missouri suddenly became ground zero for the fast-spreading new delta variant.

The ride doesn鈥檛 seem to be coming to an end. We are closing out the second year of the pandemic with continued fighting among residents and politicians over measures to curb the spread, facing another winter surge with fewer health care workers, a need for booster shots and the development of another concerning variant, omicron.听聽

Here are my five most memorable stories in chronological order:

1. By the end of February, an uneven and confusing vaccine rollout had sent droves of desperate St. 香港三级片-area residents tired of waiting to rural areas hours away where it was easier for them to find doses. Read the story.

2. Gone are the long lines and mass vaccination sites where up to 3,000 people would get a dose in one day. This story from May 30 is about EMS crews driving hours to vaccinate one homebound resident at a time. Read the story.

3. Convincing people to get vaccinated remained a challenge for health officials, even as the delta variant caused a summer surge in cases and hospitalizations. I spent a day at a St. 香港三级片 County clinic to see what finally made people decide to to get the shot. Read the story.听

4. With most older adults choosing to get vaccinated, more younger people began ending up in the hospital. That included pregnant women, who are at higher risk of complications from COVID-19. Read the story.听聽

5. After a summer of stress and overtime, health care workers on the frontlines began cracking. Many left their jobs because of burnout, the lure of traveler salaries and feeling betrayed by large number of Missourians choosing to not get vaccinated. Read the story.