Panhandle set to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses
The proposed interim Phase 1 sequence proposed at IDHW's COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting on Dec. 4. While they wait on the FDA to approve pharmaceutical company Pfizer's vaccine, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has only formally recommended Phase 1a.
Image by IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare recently announced the state will receive 13,650 initial doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in the next couple of weeks. Of those, Panhandle Health District is slated to receive 1,950.
Health districts will be responsible for distributing the vaccine based on certain criteria.
In Phase 1a of the proposed rollout, healthcare workers, residents of long-term care facilities, and those working in long-term care facilities will be the first to have access to the vaccine.
Phase 1b, will go to essential workers, such as first responders, educators, utility workers, and food and agriculture workers. The final Phase 1c opens the vaccine up to adults with high-risk medical conditions and people over the age of 65.
Larger amounts of the vaccine are expected to be obtained by the state within a month of the initial release.
As of Dec. 7, the CDC reports that America has had 281,252 total COVID-related deaths, which is less than one-tenth of 1% of the U.S. population. Of those, 72,642 — more than a quarter — have been nursing home residents.
Health officials say no forced inoculations will occur.