Hitting the road to vaccinate

Panhandle Health District's mission to vaccinate North Idaho residents against COVID-19 has inspired officials to hit the road this summer. 

During Tuesday's Panhandle Health District annual report, Public Health Services Administrator Don Duffy gave the county commissioners a breakdown of where the community is and what is planned next. 

Approximately 125,000 of PHD's 155,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered as of the Tuesday meeting, 26% of those conducted by the district Duffy said. To date, 31% of eligible residents in the five northern counties are fully vaccinated, he said, and 37% have received at least one dose.

Initially, the demand for vaccines surpassed the supply PHD had on hand, Duffy said, particularly in the first month. Several months later, it's a different story.

"So many people wanted the vaccine, and we were just not getting the supply we wanted, and now it's completely reversed," Duffy said. "We have an excess supply of vaccines, and the demand is falling off significantly." 

The "build it, and they will come" philosophy behind setting up permanent vaccination sites is no longer the best philosophy, Duffy said. Instead, it's a "build and go find them" mentality. 

"We're establishing some mobile vaccination teams so that we might go to businesses and organizations in small towns throughout the five northern counties so that everyone has the opportunity if they wish to be vaccinated." 

Mobile teams are hoping to start trekking across the panhandle on May 7, he said, with second dose follow-ups on May 28 and again on June 7.

In the middle of May, the traveling vaccine machine will attend Silverwood Theme Park to immunize about 750 people, and later in the summer PHD plans to have a COVID-19 vaccine booth at the 10-day North Idaho Fair. 

Duffy's news wasn't all happy, as PHD is concerned about the variant strains of COVID-19 that have been found in 15 North Idaho cases. While the state hasn't seen another spike like that occurring elsewhere, it's something the district will follow closely, he said. 

"It appears that the vaccine does a good job for preventing contracting the variant, as well as if you get the variant, your symptoms aren't quite as severe, but time will tell," Duffy said. 

The vaccines are not 100% effective, Duffy recognized, pointing out the cases of individuals who were fully vaccinated and then contracted COVID-19.

He also noted that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine manufacturers have talked about requiring a third dose or booster shot. If the need for additional immunizations becomes a reality, Duffy said it will likely be the responsibility of PHD to administer. 

Referencing the April 13 halt of Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution due to its link to a rare blood clot disease, Duffy said Idaho has lifted the pause and approved its continued administration.

"There's been 6 million (Johnson & Johnson) doses administered, and we've had 14 individuals that have had the blood clotting issue," Duffy said. "Which is severe and frightening for sure, but still a very, very high effective rate, plus they lifted the pause, and we're back to vaccinating."

Katherine Hoyer, public information officer for Panhandle Health District, said the district had received 7,600 doses and distributed 4,425 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine before April 13. A mass vaccine clinic using the Johnson & Johnson is being discussed, she said, but details are not confirmed yet.