Forget what phase you were in for the COVID-19 vaccine. For the second time since vaccines became available last month, the state changed its vaccination plan Thursday, placing people in one of five groups instead of phases.
Under the updated plan, providers that were ready to could provide vaccines to those in Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1 is health-care workers and long-term care residents and staff. Group 2 is anyone ages 65 or older, regardless of health status or living situation.
Once the state changed its plan Thursday afternoon, the Cherokee County Health Department – which had been vaccinating ages 75 and older for a week – had to follow and start accepting appointments for ages 65 and older, Health Director David Badger said.
“Based on the calls, we probably got 7,200 calls in three hours,” he said.
Badger added that the phone started ringing again at 7 a.m. Friday and didn’t stop all day.
“We can’t answer the phone fast enough,” he said.
Badger said he’s very proud of his staff. He’s also grateful for the help from other county employees answering phones as well as from trusted volunteers. From Jan. 11-18, the health department vaccinated 628 people for a total of 1,033. That number doesn’t include the total vaccinated at clinics at nursing homes, Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital or residents vaccinated outside Cherokee County.
According to the CDC, 30.49 percent of the county’s population is ages 65 and older. With the added number of people the vaccine is available to, the health department has booked appointments up to March. The only problem is the supply of vaccines.
Vaccines in arms
The health department gets weekly shipments of vaccines from the state’s allocation from the federal government. However, they can only keep appointments made if the shipments remain consistent.
“It’s about having vaccines,” Badger said. “They can’t manufacture vaccines fast enough.”
He added that it’s not just a Cherokee County problem, but a national and worldwide problem. But it’s a good thing demand is high for the vaccine.
While following the state’s plan, he is trying to provide vaccines to the community in a safe and effective manner. That’s one reason why the county doesn’t have open vaccine clinics with lines blocks long as seen in other areas. Badger doesn’t want people – especially those in our older population – waiting in lines in the cold to get vaccinated.
“We’ve been trying to do it more regimented,” he said. “I’d rather people get frustrated because we’re not answering the phones as quickly.”
The health department’s target is scheduling 60 first doses a day, or about 300 a week, the typical allocation of vaccines the county has been receiving. If the allocation increases, Badger said they would try to move appointments up.
“We have to get vaccines out and in people’s arms,” he said.
However, Badger is concerned about disappointing people if the allocation does not stay consistent or decreases.
“There is no guarantee, and they have to understand that,” he said. “That’s a reality we all have to accept, and I hate to say that.”
Filling the demand
“We’re seeing demand, and that’s an amazing thing,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot more than health departments giving vaccines.”
He said if people can find a way to get a vaccine from a reliable source other than the health department, they should. At least one local source, King’s Pharmacy, was working with the CDC to offer vaccines and hoping to start receiving allocations within a few weeks.
Badger hasn’t needed more locations for the health department’s allocation or more hands to help vaccinate because haven’t they had the supply on hand to warrant it.
In nearby states, pharmacies have been allocated vaccines for administration. The federal government planned to start setting up community vaccination centers on Joe Biden’s first day as president.
Because the vaccine is supplied through the federal government, people can technically go anywhere to get it, even across state lines, but Badger said everyone is encouraged to look locally for vaccines first. Those who are part-time residents are considered local, and noted that our county has many people who work in Georgia and live here, and vice versa.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from,” he said. “Our focus is our county.”
Across state lines
Georgia expanded vaccine availability to those ages 65 and older, as well as first responders, on Jan. 11. Demand has been overwhelming, said Dave Palmer, spokesman for District 2 Public Health, which includes Towns and Union counties.
“We had a large volume of callers to our call center, health departments, and heavy traffic on our website’s online registration tool,” Palmer said. “Our phone system was overwhelmed with the volume of calls. All of our available appointments were gone shortly after going live with our online registration for appointments.”
According to data available on the Georgia Department of Public Health’s statistical information tool, 17 percent of District 2’s population is people ages 65 and older, with Union and Towns at 33 and 35 percent on their own, respectively.
“As with any large-scale response, there are going to be issues. When we started Phase 1-A, we were able to manage demand from the initial groups – health care, Emergency Medical Services and long-term care facilities,” Palmer said. “When the group expanded to include 65 years of age and older, we experienced huge demand and had to speed up changes we were in the process of making.”
To help with the demand, they’ve been hiring additional staff as the budget allows, using nursing students as vaccinators in health departments, bringing in more volunteers, reassigned staff laboratory staff to vaccination and scheduling off-site clinics to vaccinate larger numbers of people at a time.
Palmer thinks as more vaccine providers, like pharmacies, receive allocations of vaccines that the demand on public health will go down.
“We look forward to other providers receiving vaccine so more people can get vaccinated, and we can get people vaccinated quicker,” he said.
Catching up
The third vaccination plan from the state aligns with changes the federal government made with its recommendations last week, that urges states to open vaccinations for those ages 65 years and older, as well as for those younger than 65 with two or more illnesses.
Alex Azar, the U.S. secretary of health and human services at the time, said for the most part, states were lagging in administering vaccines. Some of it could be a data issue, but thought the micromanaging of who gets vaccinated by some states was holding up the process.
“Every vaccine dose that is sitting in a warehouse rather than going into an arm could mean one more life lost or one more hospital bed occupied,” Azar said.
North Carolina was one of the states lagging, with 852,000 vaccines distributed and 266,938 administered as of Jan. 13, according to data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. It was the 10th-slowest state per capita in administering doses, and remained at that spot on Sunday. Georgia was the second slowest state.
Cherokee County worked to use up more of its received allocation by scheduling vaccination appointments on both Saturday and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. As of Saturday night, it had about 160 first doses remaining.
The state’s first priority was getting vaccines to people as quickly as possible, Gov. Roy Cooper said last week before the state updated its plan. He added that the state knew supplies for the vaccine would be limited when it created its initial vaccination plan, and that the state would consider the federal government’s newest recommendation. The CDC’s recommendations were last updated Dec. 22, with the state soon changing its vaccination plan to prioritize those ages 75 or older in its second group to be vaccinated.
Badger said it’s frustrating seeing the plans change so often, although he respects those making the decisions are doing the best with the information they have. Unfortunately, it’s the local health department taking the brunt of the criticism and blame for the confusion on who’s getting vaccinated and when.
“At the end of the day, we have zero control over that,” he said.
However, Badger is concerned that if things change too many times, the public will lose confidence.
In remarks made Friday afternoon, Biden said he would encourage states to open vaccinations to more people as quickly as they can – expressing the need to vaccinate those ages 65 and older and essential frontline workers, like teachers and first responders. As the new administration begins today, Badger laughed at the thought that more changes could come soon.
“If it happens, it happens,” he said.