The COVID-19 vaccination program is underway in the Three Rivers Health District, but Phase 1b isn’t going as quickly as some people had hoped.
Doses are coming into the district on a weekly basis, said Dr. Richard Williams, director of Three Rivers Health District, but they’re being administered just about as quickly as they arrive.
Williams said the problem is not manpower or logistics. It’s the severe national vaccine shortage. With the cooperative relationship that’s been developed among area hospital systems, physician practices, pharmacies, free clinics, and EMS personnel, the district has the manpower to administer four times as many doses of the vaccine as it’s receiving, he said. But because of the shortage, “it will be many weeks before everyone currently eligible and signed up can get an appointment.”
One complicating factor, said Williams, is the two-dose requirement for the vaccine. A COVID-19 clinic can’t be run like a flu clinic, he said, because it’s not a matter of just getting a shot and signing a form. For one thing, the shipments come earmarked as first doses or second doses, and there’s a constant juggling act to administer as many first doses as possible while making sure people get their second doses, as well. On top of that, he said, the vaccine is fragile, so it requires special storage considerations; people have to fill out forms in order to receive the shot; and there’s a 15-minute observation period after each shot to make sure the recipient doesn’t have an allergic reaction.
“This vaccine is much more complex than any vaccine we have ever administered,” he said.
Williams said the vaccine is being distributed as equally as possible between workers who are part of critical infrastructure and people who have underlying medical conditions on the one hand and those who qualify on the basis of age on the other. People who are under the care of medical providers that are affiliated with hospital systems are being taken care of by their provider, he said, while those whose medical providers are unaffiliated with a system or who don’t have medical providers at all come under the purview of the health department. The hospital systems involved are also taking on as many of these unaffiliated patients as they can, he said.
The federal government announced Tuesday that it was distributing vaccine to certain large retail pharmacy chains that will be able to administer the vaccine, as well. According to the website of the Centers for Disease Control, the only pharmacy chain in Virginia that will be receiving the vaccine initially is CVS. The guidance document says that there will be “per capita allocations by each jurisdiction that will be divided among the selected pharmacy partners based on number of stores and reach” (www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/retail-pharmacy-program/index.html). There didn’t appear to be a list of the specific pharmacies that will be targeted.
People who want to receive the vaccine should begin by contacting their health care provider, said Williams. If they’re unable to get the vaccine there, they should call the Three Rivers COVID-19 resource center at 804-824-2733 or visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/three-rivers. After that, they’re urged to be patient and wait for a call.
“Vaccine supply will eventually be remediated,” said Williams. “We’re trying to enhance our through-put and leverage every capability as much as we can.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is the most difficult situation Williams has dealt with in his 40-year career in public health. During that time, he said, he dealt with hurricanes, wars, pandemics, inflight fires while flying airplanes, biological weapons scares, 9/11, and more, plus he was the Chief Health and Medical Officer for NASA. All of it paled in comparison.
“Maybe it’s my age,” he said wryly.