Combating COVID: A look back at the year and moving forward

"I think 2021 was the year people expected us to get free of the pandemic," Pediatric infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Amy Edwards said.

COVID vaccines arrived in Ohio around Christmas of 2020.

The state was waiting for rollout dates. Who will be eligible to get vaccinated and when?

"Every hospital had a big ceremony around getting the first shot given to healthcare workers and 2021 started out so hopeful," Dr. Edwards said.

And the Clevelanders who were able to get those first appointments, were ready, but excitement in the air soon led to frustration on the ground for healthcare workers.

"It just descended into awfulness. I think and part of it was political, I never in a million years imagined the shot would be mired in such a quagmire of politics," Dr. Edwards said.

A calmer summer turned to fall, the emergence of the Delta variant and then Omicron, which has overloaded Northeast Ohio hospitals this New Years Eve.

READ MORE: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/2021-starts-with-vaccine-ends-with-omicron-surge/95-9820677c-2e37-440f-90ee-72776dbc893f