Health officials in West Michigan expect COVID-19 vaccine deployment to accelerate

Thousands of healthcare professionals and emergency responders received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in western Michigan in the past two weeks. However, health officials say there are challenges that are slowing deployment a bit slower than expected.

“There are so many logistics and challenges to this,” said Dr. Niraribora, director of health care at the Kent County Health Department.

The largest vaccination business in the history of the country also includes many unknowns, such as the amount and timing of vaccines. The local health sector balances these adjustments with the state-provided guidelines on who should be vaccinated first.

“As you know, there are a number of factors that aren’t as simple as a normal year’s flu clinic to manage vaccines that are stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius during a pandemic,” said Dr. Bora. ..

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been vaccinated 27,250 times on the Kent County site, with 8,350 initial vaccinations as of Tuesday. According to the state dashboard, counties manage more than most of the state.

View the state vaccine dashboard here.

Most of the first shipments from the state were sent to the healthcare system.

Spectrum Health, the largest health system in West Michigan, has been vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine 34,000 times, and as of December 30, the health system has more than 7,900 team members in the top priority category and care for other communities. He said he had been vaccinated.

According to Spectrum Health, all employees in the top priority category should be vaccinated by January 8.

Emergency medical service providers, including healthcare professionals, emergency departments, or intensive care units in the medical setting, were included in the top priority groups.

The health department has a great responsibility to vaccinate the first responders, but Bora says there were fewer people in the early categories than expected.

“We had a lot of open appointments because we found that the uptake from that top priority group was actually lower than expected,” she said Thursday. “But there is so much interest from the second and third priority groups we know … the moment we open those priorities, our schedule is met. Will be. “

Bora said Kent County wants to move to Phase 1A Priority 3By next week, it will include other necessary medical infrastructure.

Vaccination clinic schedules are also struggling, especially before and after holidays, according to the Ottawa County Public Health Service. The Otawa County site received 8,450 vaccines and administered 3,024 as of Tuesday.

When asked by people wondering how to sign up for the vaccine, Bora said Kent County hadn’t collected any information about it yet.

“We really want the data we collect from people to be available,” she said. “And over time, we know that different types of vaccines will come out and allow healthcare providers to do that in their offices as well.

“I don’t want people to think they need to be on the list because there are so many people in the area who have vaccination abilities. We work as a team to disseminate information. When the phase begins.” Stated.

Allegan County launched A survey to collect vaccine information from people who are interested in vaccination.

The best option is to check the local health department website, as the planning and current phases can vary from county to county. Bora turned around and said they wished they had begun to inform the community of the difficulties sooner.

“We let people know that this isn’t as simple, quick and easy as the flu vaccine. I think expectations are high,” Bora said of the deployment.

But she hopes the pace will increase throughout Western Michigan in the New Year.

“I think everything will improve, and I think it will improve soon,” Bora said. “The better we understand how much vaccine comes in, the more we will take … I think all of these parts will start to run much smoother.”

Created by West Michigan Health Department, Health Systems, and Other Partners vaccinatewestmi.com To help keep people informed about vaccines. Sign up to receive updates at the bottom of the home page.

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