County faces ‘extremely fluid’ situation with vaccine

MT. PLEASANT - The first coronavirus vaccine clinic in Henry County for health care workers is tentatively set for Tuesday.

At a county Board of Supervisors meeting, Henry County Public Health Director Shelley Van Dorin gave an update on the potential arrival and rollout of vaccinations, noting that 'it is an extremely fluid situation.”

The department had three clinic dates set, which would take place at their building - Dec. 22, Dec. 28 and Dec. 30 - but is unsure at this point whether vaccines will be distributed to counties in time, especially in light of news that the state would see a reduction in the number of anticipated vaccines it will receive.

Like the rest of the state, Van Dorin said she found out Wednesday evening the county would be receiving approximately 30 percent fewer vaccines. The county was originally slated to receive 600 doses but now is anticipating only 420 in the first round.

'We won't know what we're getting until we know,” Van Dorin said.

Of the 420 doses, 100 will go directly to Henry County Health Center, who will be vaccinating its own employees. The public health department will vaccinate all other health care workers in the county who are eligible for the vaccine in the first round. Van Dorin said with the reduced number of vaccines, there may be a re-evaluation of which health care personnel will receive the immunization in the first round. She added it may change so that 'it's just the dentist and not the dentist staff,” alongside other similar shifts for other health care offices.

As currently outlined by the state department of public health, the first people to receive the vaccine will be 'health care providers with direct patient contact and thus who are unable to telework, including those who work inpatient, outpatient and community settings.” That includes health care workers who provide services to patients or patient's family members or handle infectious materials.

As of Thursday, the director said about 70 health care workers are already signed up for that first clinic on the 22nd.

'We're going to continue to plan for the clinic on the 22nd. If things change a lot we will call everybody Monday morning … if we can't have that clinic. I don't even know if we're going to receive it if they don't know where it's going to, so everything is up in the air,” she said.

Van Dorin noted residential and long-term care facilities will receive vaccinations through pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS. Those vaccines are anticipated to start the week of Dec. 28.

For the upcoming clinic held by her department, vaccines will be first-come-first-serve. If all vaccines are given out at the first clinic, the other clinics will not be held unless the county receives another allocation of the vaccine. Van Dorin said counties are not supposed to hold onto vaccines and have been told they will receive another allocation of the vaccines for the necessary boosters after 28 days.

Van Dorin added Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee will be providing presence from his office at the public health building because of the volume of phone calls the department has received from elderly individuals asking for the vaccine. Under the mandates from the state, those individuals are not eligible to be vaccinated in the first round, Van Dorin said.

During the meeting, the Board of Supervisors directed Van Dorin not to pursue charging an administration fee for the vaccine. Van Dorin explained that while the vaccine is free, insurance companies could be billed for the administration of the immunization. Additionally, all supplies except for Band-Aids and sharps disposal containers would be provided.

'We can eat the cost on that. It's something that we should provide as a county,” board Chair Marc Lindeen said.