Ingham County’s top health official says the death of Colin Powell due to COVID-19 complications shows the need for more vaccinations.
Powell, a former U.S. secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fully vaccinated.
Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail points out that despite Powell’s vaccination status, he was left vulnerable due to several high-risk factors.
She says people like Powell are why the rest of us need to get vaccinated.
“Enough of us vaccinated around the vulnerable people in our communities, and we will stop vulnerable people from getting infected and dying,” Vail said.
Powell’s complications included multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s Disease, and his advanced age of 85. He died on Monday.
On another matter, Vail responded to reports that a cat has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus in a home in Ingham County. It’s the first time a domestic pet has tested positive in Michigan.
Vail says animals can get the virus from humans, but do not transmit the virus to other animals or back into humans. She calls cats a “dead-end host.” The cat is well, she says, “and there was another cat in the home, and that cat did not get sick, and the humans are also doing well, and just another twist of COVID.”
According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the cat’s owners were confirmed to have had COVID. Tests were run on the cat after it began sneezing.
