Public health prepares to distribute COVID vaccine, initial doses could be available in Floyd County by the end of this month

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

If all goes as planned, the first COVID-19 vaccine shots in Floyd County will be fired by the week after Christmas.

“Hopefully we can get the vaccine and get shots here in Floyd County the week of the 28th. That’s the best-case scenario,” said Gail Arjes, Floyd County Public Health administrator. “We will be letting the public know more information as we get it, and we should have a lot of information coming out in the next couple weeks.”

Ajres said that an Iowa vaccine advisory committee will be meeting Dec. 17 to go over the emergency use authorization, and there are high hopes that the first shots will be available about 10 days after that meeting.

“Initially, certain groups will be targeted,” Ajres said. “Front line health care providers, long-term care staff — the initial group will be health care providers with patient contact.”

Arjes said that there are still a lot of unknowns, and Floyd County should have a lot more information after that meeting. At that point, there should be information in regard to who will get the vaccine and when they will be able to get it.

“It’s not going to be Floyd County Public Health’s choice, as far as who gets the vaccine,” Arjes said. “We’re going to be told which groups of people — or ‘tiers,’ as we call them — can get the vaccine at what time.

“We will be told when we can move on to teachers, when we can move on to first responders, and beyond,” she said. “That will all come down from higher authorities.”

State officials announced last week that Iowa expects to see its first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines this month, with the first doses allocated to health care workers and nursing home residents and staff.

The state is expecting to receive 172,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in December. Both vaccines are more than 90 percent effective, according to the companies. The Pfizer vaccine received initial approval for emergency use on Thursday, while the Moderna vaccine is expected to be approved today (Friday), which will mean both vaccines are well on their way to full approval by the FDA. Arjes said that Floyd County has requested the Moderna vaccine.

The Moderna vaccination only needs to be stored at minus 4 degrees and is stable at refrigeration temperatures for 30 days. The state has secured 39 locations to accommodate the ultra-cold storage requirement of minus 94 degrees for the Pfizer vaccination.

Both vaccinations also require a second dose to be administered either 21 or 28 days after the first. The second doses will arrive for those who receive an initial dose, meaning the first shipments can be given to 172,000 individuals.

Arjes said that the state will allocate a certain number of doses of the vaccine to the county, and that the county will decide how much each facility will need. She said that Floyd County Medical Center will likely be the first to have doses allocated.

“They’ll be probably the No. 1 place in the county to get the vaccine, because those nurses and health care staff are on the front lines,” she said. “Staff at our long-term care facilities here will also be at the top of the list to get the vaccine.”

Iowa has opted to take part in the federal government’s pharmacy partnership program, which means large national chain pharmacies Walgreens and CVS will help with the distribution of the vaccine. Arjes said that Floyd County’s long-term care facilities will most like get their vaccine doses that way.

It may be spring or early summer before the county receives enough doses to vaccinate a large percentage of the local population, and Arjes said that local public health officials have been working on sites where the vaccine can be easily administered, once those doses become available.

“At this point, we don’t how many people are going to want the vaccine, we don’t know exactly how many vaccines we’re going to get, or when we’re going to get it,” she said.

The Floyd County Fairgrounds and the parking lot for the old Kmart building have both been talked about as potential sites in Charles City.

“We do have some locations targeted at this time,” Arjes said. “We have a couple different game plans in place, and we’ve been actively planning for vaccine distribution, and we have been for some time now.”

Arjes said that Floyd County Public Health will continue to encourage social distancing, hand-washing and mask use, as it has since last March, even when the vaccine is in hand.

“Just getting our hands on the vaccine won’t mean the immediate end of COVID,” she said. “We will need to continue with those practices that we’ve been preaching.”