It's been tough for a lot of people to get a COVID-19 vaccine - with challenges like finding out where it’s available and getting an appointment and even determining whether you are eligible to get the shot. Having a disability can make the process even more complex. Allison Jaynes says she’s frustrated by being cooped up a lot of the time. The 36-year-old from Penfield has a neurological disability. She lives with her family and normally gets support from staffers at agencies that include EPI, which stands for Empowering People’s Independence. But, with the pandemic, they have not been able to come to her home. While Jaynes has been able to do some outside activities, there are a number of other programs she just can’t take part in right now. "I’ve been pretty much housebound; a lot of my staff quit because they didn’t want any…as little exposure as possible to everybody and they’re kind of my wheels for the most part, I can’t drive," Jaynes says. "And a lot of places are shut down

Ear Shot

Helping individuals with disabilities get COVID-19 vaccines

You could hear the bells, bouncing off the brick buildings and the frozen Genesee River. Students from the University of Rochester Carillon Society rang them from high atop the University of Rochester’s Rush Rhees Library. Twelve rings a minute, 500 in total, to honor the half-million Americans who died of COVID-19 so far. Sophomores Valerie Battista and Kayla Gunderson and senior Claire Janezic played them.

500 bells to remember 500,000 people lost to COVID-19

Meaghan de Chateauvieux received her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a Monroe County clinic in mid-January. Fifteen minutes following the injection, she was told she could go home. "And I said, 'I don't really think so,' " she recalled. Her whole body was itching and hives broke out on her arms, chest and face. "I had the strangest feeling like my tongue was metallic...just a strange feeling like something wasn't right,” she explained. De Chateauvieux was experiencing a rare and severe allergic reaction to the vaccine. It happens only two to four times for every million doses that are administered. She was taken to a hospital emergency department, where her symptoms subsided in a couple of hours. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people who have had a severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine not to get a second dose, but de Chateauvieux, president and CEO of Willow Domestic Violence Center, was still committed to being fully vaccinated. "I am in

There is a way to safely get a second COVID vaccine dose following a rare allergic reaction

Khristopher Brooks and his wife, Deprina Godboldo, moved into their new apartment in New Rochelle, New York  last March, just as the city was declared one of the state’s first COVID-19 hotspots. That same month, the Manhattan newsroom where Brooks worked five days a week was shut down. He hasn't been back to the building since.  "My job doesn't foresee us coming back to our newsroom for most of 2021," said Brooks, a business reporter and editor for CBS News. Like millions of others, Brooks soon learned that he could do his job from home.   In fact, the Pew Research Center says 54% of people who can work remotely would like to continue doing so after the coronavirus pandemic. "I really only need a laptop and a cell phone and some strong Wi-Fi  to do what I do,” said Brooks.  For the last year, a small corner of his 650-square-foot apartment has been Brooks' makeshift office, but he realized that if he's going to be working remotely, he has flexibility.  "I can do that in Westchester, or

Zoom town: Remote workers leave big cities to relocate in Rochester

Sky Amish goes to school at a community classroom at the Genesee Valley Regional Market in Henrietta. Since August, Amish, who is 18, and most of the other 100-plus students enrolled at Holy Childhood have been attending in-person classes just two days a week, many of them at the school's main campus on Groton Parkway in Henrietta. The other three days, they were learning remotely. Amish is not a fan of getting virtual lessons on a laptop. "Kinda tricky ... it's kinda crazy," he said. His classmate, Corynn Dunton, also 18, agrees. They're both excited about a new hybrid plan that started this week: four days a week in the classroom and one day at home. "I'm ready for it 'cause I don't like doing school online at home," Dunton said. School program director Dave Halpern said a lot of thought went into the decision and it seemed like the right time for the transition to mostly in-person learning. "Because the January surge was ending and the vaccines were coming out," he said. "A number

Holy Childhood students welcome the chance to spend more time in the classroom

New York state has decided to allow all bars and restaurants in orange zones statewide to resume indoor dining at 50% capacity. That decision is in reaction to a court ruling, allowing nearly 100 establishments in Buffalo to do that .

NYS: Indoor dining can resume in orange zones

When I was a kid, I lost a glove on the McCurdy's department store escalator downtown. I was maybe 9, and my mom was angry. We were late for our bus and I wouldn’t stop talking. We made it — barely. As the bus pulled away from East Main and Franklin streets, I looked up at this giant pole, and wondered: What is that thing? Turns out, the concept for a Liberty Pole began thousands of years ago.

Rochester’s Liberty Pole: More than a holiday destination

A virtual ceremony hosted by the National Women's Hall of Fame Thursday night honored six women for their pioneering efforts toward equality.

National Women's Hall of Fame works to recognize under-represented women

The Monroe County Legislature on Thursday hastily voted to override vetoes issued earlier in the day by County Executive Adam Bello on two last-minute amendments to the $1.2 billion county budget. The override, which was conducted within 15 minutes of a special meeting of the Legislature being called, was not unexpected.

Legislators override Bello's budget vetoes

According to a recent Gallup poll , 42% of adults in the U.S. say they would not get a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available even as health experts stress the importance of immunization against the virus that has wrought havoc across the globe and employers are eager to get back to business as usual. But some people could be required to get the shot as a condition of their employment. However, unless a person has a legitimate medical or religious reason to opt out, their employer could mandate the inoculation. "I don't think an anti-vaxxer would have a good claim if they were fired for refusing to take a vaccine," said Professor Stewart Schwab, an employment law scholar at Cornell Law School. There are legal grounds for such a mandate. Employers are required under federal law to provide a safe workplace for all their employees. "So it's not only the one worker who's refusing to get a vaccine but all the other workers who might be exposed if they have to work with such a person,"

Some don't want the COVID-19 vaccine employers could mandate it

According to one doctor, medical staff at local hospitals are exhausted as they care for the latest wave of COVID-19 patients -- more than twice the number who were hospitalized in the peak surge last spring. Dr. Damanpaul Sondhi, a pulmonologist at Rochester Regional Health, said there are enough beds, thanks to the opening of additional floors at the new Sands Constellation Center for Critical Care. But he said they're running out of nurses and respiratory therapists to meet the current patient caseload. "We are working 12-hour shifts and keeping people who are supposed to (have) time off as a backup," he said. "We have seen a couple of our colleagues get sick. Fortunately, they were sick for a few days; they had mild illness." Sondhi said he is seeing a younger population of patients who have COVID-19 compared to nine months ago. He said there are 10% to 15% percent fewer patients on ventilators relative to last spring, partly because they are younger and less likely to have

RRH doctor: 'We're running out of nurses and respiratory therapists'

Like clockwork, tens of thousands of crows, also known as a murder, come together this time of year for their own safety. They’re noticeable in downtown Rochester. Genesee Valley Audubon Society President June Summers said it's a way to protect themselves from predators, like owls. She said the crows are often distant relatives. “Crows come together in a winter roost, in numbers because it's safer,” said Summers. “In the spring and the summer they disperse and go out and nest, and take up territories in the rest of the county.” For most of the last decade, the birds have found their way downtown from their long time roost in Mount Hope Cemetery. Summers isn’t sure why they moved but mused that the heat from the pavement in the center of town may have attracted them. The birds have a distinct sound, smell and droppings, particularly noticeable around downtown buildings like the Geva theater, the ESL Headquarters and Frontier Field. Justin Gansowski, who works on wildlife conflicts for

Rochester spends thousands annually to disperse a massive murder of crows

A local turkey farmer and Alfred University have combined forces to make Thanksgiving a little brighter for staff at that Southern Tier college. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many of us in different ways, and for Travis Mattison, who owns Ridgecrest Turkey Farm in Brockport, it has put a deep dent in what would normally be one of the busiest times of the year.

A Brockport turkey farmer and Alfred University provide a Thanksgiving gift

An expansive, diverse exhibit at the Rochester Museum & Science Center is an homage to the contributions of generations of pioneering local women. "The Changemakers: Rochester Women Who Changed the World," opened on Nov. 20. Featuring artifacts, authentic objects, and immersive experiences to capture the stories of more than 200 women, it may be one of the largest indoor exhibits in the museum's history. "When you start to assemble the evidence of all of these changemakers' work into 7,000 square feet of space, it's really undeniable that their efforts have impacted all areas of our lives and transformed both our region and the world,” said Kathryn Murano Santos, RMSC's senior director of collections and exhibitions. The exhibit showcases several time-honored heroes of Rochester and upstate New York: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth. It also highlights the visionary and trailblazing work of contemporary history makers. A wall-sized

RMSC exhibit honors generations of women who changed Rochester and the world

Ephraim Gebre and Jared Diaz are on vacation. In a Rochester parking lot. By day, they work for a boutique New York City ad firm. But since the spring, when they're not working, they and two other colleagues have been making statements through building-sized art projects. Diaz says it's the latest part of their "I AM" series, featuring pictures taken by Danny Lyon, a famed photographer of the civil rights movement.

I AM SPEAKING mural honors a legend and demands the attention of Rochester

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