Funeral home employees await vaccine eligibility

WADSWORTH — Funeral directors who say they are facing some of the darkest aspects of the coronavirus pandemic have not yet been deemed eligible for vaccination, and want to know why. Despite taking on new and more dangerous responsibilities exacerbated by surges in COVID-19 deaths, funeral home employees are not part of confirmed tiered rollout plans put out by the Ohio Department of Health and are classified as general population. Dan Rospert, who has owned and operated Wadsworth's Hilliard-Rospert Funeral Home at 177 N. Lyman St. since 2006, detailed the numerous ways his workday has changed. "That virus is active 72 hours in the body after death, according to what we've been told," he said. "We try to cover faces every time someone is moved, because you have to think about airflow out of the lungs for a good length of time after death. We're using spray solutions for the mouth and nose, too, that are supposed to kill the virus, anything we can to stay safe" "I guess everyone has had to make adjustments during all of this," Rospert said. "It's just been so busy lately, too. We've had so many people coming in. You feel an obligation to your community and you want to keep helping your community, but we need help. We need the vaccine." Confirmed reports of funeral home employees receiving their first vaccine dose and being included in rollout plans have come out of a handful of states, including New York, North Carolina and West Virginia. Nevada also has included that demographic in its upcoming "Tier 2" response phase. Rospert shared a December email from the Ohio Funeral Directors Association, which has taken the lead in lobbying Columbus for inclusion. "Federal framework does recommend mortuary service workers in Phase 1A," it stated. "Ohio has indicated they are following that guidance, however, they have not recognized funeral service and other front-line workers in Phase 1A because of the limited quantity of vaccine." It goes on to say "ODH has assured us that our multiple pieces of correspondence that advocates for early vaccine access for death care workers is in the right hands and noted we have presented compelling arguments for inclusion." Mary Ann Bauer, owner of Valley City's Bauer Funeral Home, 2089 Columbia Road, agreed with Rospert in feeling an obligation to her community despite lacking vaccine assurance. "No, I don't think it's right, but what can we really do about it right this second?" she said. "You can't be frightened and let it get the best of you. People are coming to you for help and you have to take care of them the best you can." "It's also very hard to see a family going through something like that and not being able to hug or shake their hand like what we usually do," Bauer added. "I don't know, I hope someone in charge can change this sometime soon." The sheer number of COVID-19 deaths and ensuing services through his business have forced expansion to storage capacity, Rospert said. "The governor of Ohio has been said that one of the largest spreads of COVID is at weddings, funerals and family gatherings," he said. "As funeral directors and funeral home staff, we are the ones meeting with the families of those who have died from COVID. They have been exposed. We are the ones handling the bodies of those that have died from COVID. "People want to say this is fake but this is real, I've seen it. I've seen it up close." Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.