CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – During a weekly webinar on Friday, several county officials shared their frustration with the Iowa Department of Public Health for receiving too little warning of changes announced Thursday that open vaccine eligibility for people 64 years and younger with a condition that the CDC has identified as possible as a cause of severe COVID-19 disease.
An email received from KCRG-TV9 i9 The investigative unit received shows that the Iowa Department of Public Health has only alerted county health departments to extend eligibility criteria for COVID-19 vaccinations 8 minutes before the announcement.
During the webinar, the state health department said it expects the recently announced change to add about 1 million people who are eligible to receive a vaccine. The department will not give priority to people with certain diseases, although individual counties may do so. The state also intends to rely on people who truly attest to their medical condition or smoking history. It will also vaccinate this new group, simultaneously vaccinating the levels set in January.
The department said it made the decision after nearly 12 counties said they had completed vaccination of their population aged 65 and over.
Kelly Garcia, who is the interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, said the move was made to ensure open appointments are met.
“I know that not every county will be in the same space, and the movement to open things up is really around the idea that a not inconsiderable number of both pharmacy partners and local public health agencies have had open appointments,” he said. she said. “And it was our goal, our collective goal from the very beginning to meet as many meetings as possible and get shots in the arms as quickly as possible.”
The new guidelines come into force on Monday, March 8th. Each county has the flexibility to start vaccinations for people under the age of 65 with a medical condition.
The department also said it is looking at state-run vaccination clinics and does not expect changes to be made to the governor’s next emergency proclamation.
He also said the Infectious Diseases Advisory Council, which recommends Iowa on populations to be vaccinated, does not intend to meet again in the future.
Communication problems
Christy Roby Williams, who is the director of public health for Muscatine County, said a previous warning would give her more time to prepare her department.
“I would respectfully ask the Iowa government to consider communicating with local and state public health departments when the phases change (before the change),” she said in the chat app. “This way we can better prepare our communications, call centers, employees and provide a quick response to the community.”
Many others on the appeal agreed with this sentiment, including Becky Wolf. Wolf is the highest health official in Greene County.
“Giving 10 minutes’ notice before the press release creates huge problems locally, especially on Fridays! We deserve better. We appreciate everything you do for us in these impossible times. ”
Tim Richmond, who is the Wapello County Emergency Management Coordinator in Wapello County, said this was a repeated complaint from local health agencies.
“Locals should be notified in advance of significant changes so that we can manage local messaging,” he said. “If you do not do this, you will confront the locals with your state partners unnecessarily. I don’t think this is done intentionally, but there has been a repeated complaint throughout the pandemic. ”
Ken Sharp, who is the chair of the Infectious Diseases Advisory Board. acknowledged that local public health departments had few warnings about the changes.
“We hear you and we’ve heard you every time,” he said. “And we recognize that everything is so compressed and continues to be so. We do everything we can to try and give as much attention as possible. And we recognize that we simply failed to get into a place where a few days’ notice is not something we could do. “
After Sharp responded, two different public health officials said they only wanted a warning of more than ten minutes.
Redistribution of vaccine doses in counties that have not ended vaccination of people over 65 years of age
During the transition from Phase 1A to 1B, IDPH required everyone in one phase in the entire state of Iowa to receive a vaccine before any county can begin vaccinating people in the next group. This is no longer the case and several county health departments have asked the state about redistributing vaccine doses in counties that have not finished vaccinating people over the age of 65.
Ken Sharp said about 12 counties said they had finished vaccinating people 65 and older. Dana Cockrell, who is the assistant administrator of the Monroe County Department of Health, asked why those counties cannot have suspended doses.
“If the minority of the counties have met their needs, can’t the shipments be shipped?” She asked in the chat. “We were just starting to plan the land to allocate to the qualifying agricultural sectors and now the vaccine-eligible crowd has grown exponentially. Give us their vaccines so we can vaccinate those who qualify. Do not saturate the field further. ”
Cockrell said the state is putting the local health department in a position to fail.
“You give us the chance to move forward and succeed,” she wrote in the chat. “We have gone from forming successful plans behind the ball to 8 again,”
Sharp said he would not wait for every county in the state to end a phase before extending eligibility.
“We are trying to find a balance between a number of counties that have managed to get through their waiting list,” he said. “And these are not just small, small counties, this is a wide range of counties, including some that we would consider large counties by Iowa standards. So, we are trying our best to find that balance to allow counties to continue to progress through their populations.
Sharp also said that he is trying to keep the promises made in the past that he will not reduce the allocation, so that the counties can properly plan the appointments. Sharp said it was a criticism IDPH received from the county’s public health when it reallocated doses to other counties to recover them as they transitioned from Phase 1A to 1B.
Charity Loecke, who is Delaware County’s public health coordinator, said the state should increase its allocation if eligibility increases.
“I ask you that if you extend the eligibility, then our allocation of vaccines must increase !!”, she wrote in the chat. “For us, this considers that there must be a vaccine reallocated to other counties.”
Sharp said he is looking at allocation strategies and is working to increase allocations to counties, but it will take time due to the slow release of the vaccine.
Other callers also told the state that it needs more doses of vaccine and that they have the ability to manage more doses.
IDPH is actively analyzing mass vaccination testing
Kelly Garcia, who is the interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, said in a call that the state is looking to host mass vaccination clinics as supply grows.
Helen Eddy, who is the director of the Polk County Department of Health, asked if the state is considering state-run mass vaccination clinics specifically at the Iowa Test website.
Garcia replied that he is and is looking to associate with counties.
“We are thinking of hosting some of the people from the state,” she said. “We would like to be partners with counties or groups of counties that would like to keep one together.”
Johnson County wants to divide those with pre-existing conditions into younger age groups
Two different counties wanted IDPH to break down the nine eligible for a vaccine into younger age groups.
Sam Jarvis, who is division manager at the Johnson County Department of Public Health, has called for the ten-year-old bands to be in place due to ineligibility for further expansion.
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