Jefferson County rejects vaccine allotment after large shipment prior week

FAIRFIELD — Jefferson County Public Health turned away a recent vaccine allotment from the state because it received more vaccines than it could administer.

The department normally receives 300 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine each week, but received a large one-time shipment of 900 doses on March 29. Jefferson County Public Health Administrator Chris Estle said her department was able to use all 900 of those vaccines eventually, and asked the state the following week to reallocate its 300 doses to other counties in greater need.

Estle said her office shares vaccines with Summit Pharmacy and the Jefferson County Health Center. The other pharmacies in Fairfield receive regular vaccine allocations from the federal pharmacy program. She said the demand for vaccines has begun to decline as more people have gotten the vaccine not just from public health but through these other channels.

One reason Estle said she asked for Jefferson County’s vaccine allotment to go to other counties is that the state requires counties to use 80 percent of its allotment or face a penalty of not receiving future shipments of the vaccines. Estle wanted to avoid that penalty. Jefferson County was one of 23 counties that turned away some or all of their vaccine allotment that week so the vaccines could go to other counties.

“We want to make sure that the counties that need the vaccine are getting it,” Estle said. “We don’t want them sitting in a refrigerator.”