When Brian Taylor was named the fire chief at the Pleasant Township Fire Department in 2016, he said it was his goal to “set the example” within the department and within the community. On Dec. 28, he said he felt he continued with that tradition by becoming one of the first fire chiefs in the county to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Shown here with Alexandria Jones, the assistant health commissioner with Franklin County Public Health, Taylor said he would encourage the department staff and the community to receive a vaccination when the time comes. “I would never tell anyone to do something that I would not do myself,” he said at the vaccination distribution clinic for ‘Tier 1A’ of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan. “By doing this, I can tell them that it is safe, that it is effective, and that it is something I would strongly encourage that they do.” More than 11 fire chiefs in the county received the Moderna vaccine on this day. Dozens of EMS personnel are also slated to receive the vaccine, including half of the staff at the PTFD and several from the Jackson Township Fire Department.
