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CoMMuNITy uPDATE Infections as of Feb. 26
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Infections as of Feb. 21 6,271
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Local vaccine rollout now under way online. Ninety percent of the people who received a vaccine at Keezac Pharmacy were regular pbelfiore@liherald.com, aseidman@liherald.com customers from Bellmore, MerOne hundred doses of Moder- rick, Wantagh and other surna’s coronavirus vaccine arrived rounding communities, Sheth at Keezac Pharmacy in Bellmore said. last week, and 100 more are The local pharmacy adminisexpected to arrive tered 100 shots to at the end of the residents 65 and month, according older over four to owner and phardays. Twenty peomacist Sam Sheth. ple were inoculated Sheth said he after regular busiwas fortunate to ness hours (bereceive the initial tween 5 and 7 p.m.) delivery, and noted last Wednesday, that he had applied Thursday and Frito both state and d a y, a n d t h e federal distributors remaining 40 doses to receive a shipwere administered ment every Monlast Saturday. day for four weeks. sAM sHETH Although con“It was a long pro- Owner, verting the pharcess to register our- Keezac Pharmacy macy into a vacciselves,” he said, nation site in a “but on [Feb. 22], “very short winwe received the dow of time” was a confirmation, and challenge, Sheth by [Feb. 24], we had the shots.” said, for some, it was the most When it seemed likely that convenient option. the pharmacy would be able to “The importance of the comadminister inoculations last munity pharmacy is [we] can Sunday, Sheth and his staff really get to the needy people,” began collecting names of cus- he said. “Many people can’t tomers to be added to a waitlist. stand in a line for three to four Others were directed to the pharmacy’s website to re gister Continued on page 4
By PETER BElFIoRE and AlyssA sEIDMAN
M
Courtesy Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District
A NEw sTuDENT-FouNDED Diverse Dialogues series kicked off at John F. Kennedy High School on Feb. 25 with an open forum on race and racism. Students and staff discussed their own experiences related to race, the larger community and advocating for themselves and others.
New club at Kennedy promotes diverse dialogues By ANDREw GARCIA agarcia@liherald.com
John F. Kennedy High School’s newest club, aptly named Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, aims to make the school community more inclusive by promoting open dialogue on issues of race and social justice. The club held its first forum on Feb. 25, during which students shared personal experiences of racial prejudice. “We were very involved
throughout Black History Month, and heard students [talking about] those experiences,” said club co-founder Desiree Rigaud, “and we saw that Asian-American hate crimes are on the rise — and in some cases, they’re being attacked — or we heard experiences from Latin-Americans. “This expression was only happening outside of the walls of our school,” Rigaud continued. “We wanted to make that change happen and
bring those discussions here.” “These are student-led discussions on how we can improve these issues,” noted co-founder Michelle Brown. Last week’s event, held in Kennedy’s library and virtually via Zoom, was the first installment of DEI’s Diverse Dialogues series, which will feature discussions on a variety of societal issues, including LGBTQ rights, anti-Semitism, sexism and gender equality. Continued on page 3
any people can’t stand in a line for three to four hours or get appointments at all.