Frustration builds as counties prepare for next vaccinations

County public health departments are scrambling to prep for the rollout of Phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccinations, which begins Monday.

According to state guidance, individuals age 65 and older, as well as teachers, law enforcement, firefighters and first responders will now be eligible to receive their vaccines.

Availability of the vaccine is one of the major hurdles for public health officials.

Henry County Public Health Director Shelley Van Dorin said that Henry County was allocated only 100 doses for the first week.

'They said they will let us know week-to-week what our allocation will be,” Van Dorin said. 'Our hands are tied until we know our allocation.”

Earlier this week, the department announced a vaccination clinic for people 65 and older would be held on Feb. 4 by appointment only.

'We opened the phone lines on Tuesday morning, and we were filled up in 25 minutes,” Van Dorin said. 'Now, we're taking names and putting them on a wait list.

'We don't know how long they will have to wait.”

She added that the clinic is open to people from Phase 1A who need their second vaccine dose.

'Anyone needing a second dose can come as a walk-in,” she said. 'Those second doses come from a different supply.”

Van Dorin said that finding space for vaccination clinics is not an issue in Henry County.

'We have a lot of buy-in with churches and Iowa Wesleyan University to let us use their facilities,” she said.

That is not the case in Washington County.

'Logistical factors take so much time,” Washington County Public Health Director Danielle Pettit-Majewski said. 'We are trying to coordinate with all of our partners. There are a lot of moving pieces.”

Washington County has been allocated 200 vaccination doses for next week.

On Thursday, Washington County Public Health announced its first mass vaccination clinic, set for Saturday, Feb. 6.

This clinic, which will be held from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Parkside Recreation Center in Wellman, is only for people age 65 and over.

The department will start taking calls to schedule appointments Monday morning.

People must call 319-653-7758 and speak directly to a public health staff member to make an appointment. Voicemails, emails and Facebook messages will not be returned.

Pettit-Majewski said that they are looking to do a 50-50 split of their allocation between people 65 and older and people who fall into one of the other Phase 1B tiers.

'We're trying to balance public clinics and closed pods for law enforcement, first responders, firefighters and schools,” she said. 'We're trying to make plans around all allocations – when and how many – and plan accordingly.”

Jefferson County, which has been allocated 200 doses, has had a jump start on Phase 1B.

'Jefferson County was able to meet the needs of police and firefighters with leftover vaccine from Phase 1A,” Public Health Director Christine Estle said. 'I could not, in good conscience, leave vaccine in my refrigerator.”

They also started clinics for people 65 and over this week.

'Instead of keeping vaccines in the refrigerator until February, we got guidance to administer tiers 1-5 and people 65 and over.”

Estle expressed her frustration with the lack of information being given to county public health departments.

'Communities are frustrated, and I'm frustrated,” she said. 'I can't answer questions because I don't know the answers.

'Communication is the No. 1 priority, and local public health is being kept out of the loop.”

She said that at the federal level, large pharmacy chains – namely CVS and Walgreens – have been part of the planning of the vaccine rollout.

'They're given information from the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that we're not privy to,” Estle said. 'We're only given bits and pieces of information.

'This is a public health emergency and needs to be handled by public health and their partners. The public doesn't understand that we're being left out.”

She emphasized that she is not against the pharmacy chains being part of the planning.

'The more vaccines we can get into arms, I'm all for it,” she said. 'We just want the information shared.

'It could be handled so much better.”