By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
One of the lessons of 2020 has been that even the best laid plans can go awry. Such was the expectation that Wood County Health Department would get 600 COVID-19 vaccines today.
But due to a logistical issue with the distributor, the first shipment of the coronavirus vaccine to the health department was delayed until Thursday.
Since some local EMS first responders were planning to get the vaccine today, the Wood County Health Department was able to pick up some Moderna vaccine doses from the Toledo Lucas County Health Department.
“We appreciate Toledo Lucas County Health Department’s willingness to help and will return the doses that we are borrowing early next week,” a press release stated.
Wood County Health Department expected to receive 600 doses of the Moderna vaccine late this morning. By early afternoon, Bowling Green firefighters and paramedics were prepared to be among the first in the county to get the vaccine.
Even with the delay, health department officials are confident that they will have all 600 distributed by the middle of next week.
“We’re excited. We’ve put a lot of work in on the front end,” to make sure every dose is distributed as soon as possible, said Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Robison.
Those first doses will be divided, with about 200 going to critical personnel at Wood County Hospital, 200 to local EMS, 100 to residential facilities for people with developmental disabilities, and about 60 to a hospice facility in the county. Some doses will be held in reserve at the health department to replenish vials if problems occur with the allocated vaccines.
The health department expects new vaccines to arrive weekly, Robison said.
Wood County has between 5,000 and 6,000 residents who qualify for the top tier to get vaccines first. That tier includes health care workers, emergency responders and people living in congregate medical facilities.
“We are weeks or months away from when we can move to the general population,” Robison said this morning. The health department plans to put a self-triage quiz on its website to help people identify when their turn arrives for the vaccine.
An allocation team in the county has been working with the health department to determine how the vaccines should be distributed, using the state’s guidelines. On the team are representatives of local government, senior citizens, emergency management, health care, law enforcement, EMS, long-term care facilities and the media.
“It helps us make smart decisions,” Robison said. “It helps us to make sure we are meeting the most critical needs.”
The Moderna vaccine, which is the type arriving in Wood County, differs from the Pfizer vaccine in that Moderna requires regular refrigeration (not the deep freeze needed for Pfizer), it comes in vials of 10 doses rather than Pfizer’s five doses, and its second dose must be given no less than 28 days from the first dose compared to Pfizer’s 21 days between doses.
Once a vial of the Moderna vaccine has been punctured, the doses must be used within six hours, which can make the distribution of all doses tricky.
As more shipments arrive, the Wood County Health Department hopes to make the vaccine easy for local residents to get.
“We want it to be as widely available as we can make it,” Robison said.
As the distribution opens up in the county and clinics are scheduled, the health department plans to recruit about 200 people qualified to give vaccines, and another 2,000 to help with tasks such as paperwork and traffic control.
Robison said the health department plans to host many smaller clinics, scheduled at a variety of hours to meet the needs of residents. People will be asked to pre-register so there will be no long lines, and no running out of vaccines.
To address concerns about adverse reactions to the vaccine, the health department will require people to stick around for a period of observation. A federal reporting system will be notified of any local adverse reactions.
The serious reactions are “exceedingly rare,” Robison said.
“When I am eligible, I will get my vaccine,” he said. “I feel comfortable having my family get the vaccine.”
No one will be mandated to get the COVID vaccine, Robison said.
Wood County Hospital began vaccinating all staff this morning, after receiving its own shipment of 500 Moderna doses on Monday.
“Everyone was very excited that they’re able to get it. They are the ones taking care of our community,” Cristy Walton, vice president of development at the hospital, said Tuesday.
Accurate information about vaccines can be found from Wood County Health Department (Coronavirus.WoodCountyHealth.org), the Ohio Department of Health (Coronavirus.Ohio.gov) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Coronavirus.gov).
