Grant County to hold COVID-19 vaccine clinic for those 80 and older
By Logan Bagett on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
JOHN DAY- Community Counseling Solutions Director Kimberly Lindsay provided our newsroom with an update on COVID-19 vaccine numbers in Grant County. Last week, a total of 2 first doses were administered along with 85 second doses. Find the release below:
(Press Release from Community Counseling Director Kimberly Lindsay)
Greetings Grant County residents. Following is our vaccine information for the week of 1/26 – 1/31/21
Total first doses administered: 2
We are a going to be administering more new doses today to individuals in the health care and educators group (see accompanying sequencing graphic).
First doses to date: 442
Second doses: 85
Total 2nd doses to date: 85
We have administered a combined total of vaccines (1st and 2nd doses): 527
This week our focus will be on administering second doses to those who have previously received the vaccine, as well as administering first doses to the remainder of health care workers (Group 1a) and educators (Group 1b). Please refer to sequencing graphic. After today, we expect to have about 110 doses available.
We will be able to begin vaccinating those 80 and over on or after 2/8/2021, per OHA requirements. At this time, we have just over 100 individuals on our list who 80 years old and older. We do not know when we will receive any additional vaccine shipments. We will be conducting vaccine clinic on 2/8 for individuals 80 and over who are on the wait list. We will call each person to schedule a time for them to come between noon – 2:00. This vaccine clinic is not open to the general community. It is quite possible that we will not have enough doses for every person who is 80 and over. Following you will find information on how to get on our list.
Blue Mountain Hospital District (BMHD) and the Grant County Health Department (GCHD) are closely collaborating on making the COVID-19 vaccine available to residents of our wonderful county, as vaccines are provided to Grant County from the state. We are creating a list of those interested in receiving the vaccine. In the future, when we receive additional shipments, we will work off the list to get people in for the vaccine. We will need to continue to do this for the near immediate future, until the vaccine is more widely available.
If you have already called the GCHD or BMH and put your name on the wait list, you are set. There is nothing more you need to do. If you would like to be added to the wait list, please send an email to vaccine@ccsemail.org. This is our preferred route to sign people up on the wait list. When you send an email, simply let us know that you are interested in receiving the vaccine. Please provide your name, date of birth, phone number, mailing address and any chronic health conditions. You will receive a confirmation email back within 48 hours.
If indicating interest through email is not possible, you can call the GCHD at 541-575-0429 or Strawberry Wilderness Clinic at 541-575-0404 and asked to be placed on the COVID-19 vaccine list.
Please know that we are required to vaccinate individuals as directed by the Oregon Health Authority and the Vaccine Advisory Committee guidelines. At this time, groups currently eligible include health care workers, Long Term Care Facility residents, education systems, and first responders. We will continue to work diligently at vaccinating individuals as we receive additional doses. We will refer to the vaccine wait list to determine eligibility based upon current approved groups.
Given that there are strict regulations on how to manage and prepare the COVID-19 vaccine, there are limitations on how vaccinations can be delivered, stored, and given. Each vial only contains 10 -11 doses of the Moderna vaccine. Given that once a vial is opened all doses must be used within 6 hours, we will schedule vaccinations in groups of 11. If an individual does not present at the designated time for the vaccine, the GCHD will diligently work off the waitlist to identify another individual to receive the dose. Whenever possible we will identify someone who falls in current priority group that we are working in. However, if no such individual can be identified, we will continue to move through the list, prioritizing those in at risk or high priority populations.
Download a copy of the OHA’s updated sequencing graphic below:
