Navajo County Expands Vaccination Campaign – But You Need An Appointment | Latest news

Navajo County has urged people in high-risk groups to make reservations for a COVID-19 vaccination through the state’s reservations website.

Currently, only people in Groups 1A and 1B can reserve a shot in one of the vaccination clinics. No walk-in people can get a chance, even if they belong to one of the risk groups.

The 1A group includes frontline medical workers as well as nursing home workers and residents. Most of the people in this group get their admissions through the workplace and there is a separate system for vaccinating people in nursing homes that is administered nationally by pharmacy chains.

National tracking databases said Wednesday that 15.2% of Navajo County’s residents received a first dose and 5.4% received a second dose – a total of 21% with at least partial protection. That’s in the top 20% of states at the national level.

Metro creative

The 1B group includes teachers and support staff, other health care workers, police, fire departments, and other key personnel – such as groceries, agriculture, restaurants, grocery and utilities. It also includes people over 75 years of age.

In a press release this week, Navajo County urged people to go to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard at www.navajocountyaz.gov and select the COVID-19 Vaccine Information section. Please check the levels and see what level you are in. If the county is currently vaccinating your level, you can proceed with vaccine registration. If you would like to register for the vaccine, but the program has no dates available for your animal group at this time, please check back regularly. “

The complicated system of registering for a reservation-only appointment has slowed the adoption of vaccines across the country – perhaps 40% of the 30 million doses actually administered by the federal government at the time.

Navajo County urged people to keep looking for an appointment.

As soon as the vaccine is available, further vaccination clinics will be added to the program and appointment slots will open. The county understands that not everyone has internet or computer access. If you need help making an appointment please call 211. You register by phone when appointments are available.

And if the 211 call center is only manned, people can also seek help from the local public library, the press release says.

Individuals currently ill or isolated due to close contact should not seek a shot at this point, even if they belong to either of the two high priority groups. Those currently infected may be particularly responsive to the vaccine, which for most people includes a headache and a day or two of flu-like symptoms.

If local people can’t get an appointment, they may try to travel to one of two mass vaccination sites in Phoenix – but only if they are registered on the state website, according to a press release.

The county relies on the state-distributed doses of the Moderna vaccine. The first shot offers about 60% protection, which increases to 95% protection three weeks later with a second dose.

So far, the district health department has contacted employers – such as school districts – directly to plan closed vaccination clinics. Difficulty dealing with the Moderna vaccine coupled with strict federal priorities and the shortage of vaccines has hampered the introduction of the vaccine.

The county health department does not have the staff to manage a reservation system for larger groups – for example, those over 75 or over 65, or those at high risk such as heart disease and diabetes.

Unfortunately, vaccine adoption has been slow since the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were approved in mid-December.

The surge in demand for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines has highlighted the botched launch of the record-breaking, high-potency vaccine. The federal centers for disease control say the federal government distributed 31.2 million doses, but only 12 million doses were actually administered and only 1.6 million people received both required doses.

Nursing home residents and staff have only received 1.4 million doses to date, although nursing homes currently account for about 36% of deaths from the pandemic and represent a captive population under medical supervision. Delays in reporting could contribute to the alarmingly low number of doses actually administered, federal officials say.

Arizona has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, according to a database maintained by the CDC.

Nationally, 39% of the shots distributed were used, making a first dose for approximately 3.2% of the US population.

In Arizona, 34% of the cans were used – about 2.4% of the population.

The slow rollout of the Arizona vaccination campaign comes as the state ranks number 1 in the rate of new cases for week two – with a per capita infection rate of 109 per 100,000, almost double the national average.

The infection rate in Navajo County is 110 per 100,000 and Apache County 78 per 100,000 for a running average for the past week. This is based on figures updated on January 18th.

The rise in new cases and deaths has slowed somewhat. The average daily number of cases over the past 14 days has decreased by 11% while deaths have increased by 77%. The higher death rate reflects the rate of new cases about a month ago. The rate of new hospitalizations has increased by an average of about 10% per day for the past two weeks. Hospitals are currently more than 90% full, and some fear the system will collapse if new measures fail to curb the pandemic.

The federal government complicated issues for the county when it announced next week that the state should offer shots to everyone aged 65 and over, as well as people with documented chronic conditions like high blood pressure, cancer, lung disease, and heart disease.

But the districts don’t have enough doses to start with those over 75, let alone the far larger group of people over 65.

The incoming Biden government has made every effort to increase the rate at which people can be vaccinated.

The outgoing Trump Administration has advanced the development of two highly potent vaccines in record time through Operation Warp Speed. However, the dispute with Congress delayed funding for the establishment of a mass vaccination system by months.

The new plan calls for the establishment of mass vaccination clinics across the country, staffed by retired medics and the National Guard. The campaign would set up clinics in gyms, sports stadiums and community centers, as well as mobile clinics in more remote areas. Overall, the new government’s plan is to hire 100,000 more healthcare workers to perform the vaccinations and tests.

The plan also puts a lightning bolt on public education, partly to let people know where to take pictures, partly to deal with some people’s fears about possible side effects caused by disinformation campaigns on social media.

The new plan also calls for recourse to the Defense Production Act to ensure that vaccine production takes precedence over materials to boost production.

Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are relatively easy to manufacture compared to other types of vaccines, but require much more careful handling in the field. They must be stored at 20 to 80 degrees below zero and used within one hour of opening a vial. This means that health workers must plan clinics where they can ensure that enough people are employed to use all of the doses in each vial.

Epidemiologists are also investigating whether reducing the starting dose or delaying the second dose affects the protection of the vaccine in order to get the first dose to people faster.

In addition, several other easy-to-administer vaccines are nearing approval, including an attenuated whole virus vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca.

Peter Aleshire covers county government and other issues for the Independent. He is the former editor of the Payson Roundup. Reach out to him at [email protected]