At the regular County Commissioners meeting on Thursday, Shannon Ernst, Churchill County Social Services director, reported that she wants to make sure the community understands that everyone who receives their vaccine from the county will receive both of their doses through the county. “If we provided your first dose, we will provide your second,” stated Ernst. “If we are going to be short, we may have to bump someone for a week, but we will get them in and make sure we cover everyone we’ve given their first dose to.”
County Manager Jim Barbee provided further clarification during his COVID Response report, stating, “We will not provide your second dose if you received your first dose any other place.”
According to Barbee, the County COVID Response Team is having some issues with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) over tracking and supplying the COVID vaccine. They are currently working with the state to improve this process. At present, the only numbers that can be validated are those doses that have actually come through the county and the data submitted by Banner Hospital. “We do not have access to how many the pharmacies have, what they have administered and how many are sitting in their fridge,” Barbee explained.
To date, the county has ordered 3,100 first doses and 1,300 boosters, with 2,692 doses administered. They are approved for more doses, but with the state calculating the orders without accessing the real data, the number of booster shots needed doesn’t align with the state’s calculations.
Another 1,100 doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive next week, with 300 allocated to the county and 800 to pharmacies. “We have more than that in booster doses coming up this week and we’re being told, tough you’ll have to figure it out,’” said Barbee. “And we will, we will just have folks who are going to have to go longer than the 30 days. Which they can, but this is really being driven by the state.” Additionally, people are coming from outside the county to receive their vaccine. However, it is unclear if additional doses will be allotted to the county to help cover those extra doses administered.
Barbee also explained that several people received their first dose from the hospital or a local pharmacy but are coming to the county to receive their booster. “As of today, we are under a directive from the state that says we cannot provide them the booster.”
The county is also working with DHHS which has funded the vaccine pod to accommodate seven lanes, which would allow administering the vaccine to 1,000 people a day. However, says Barbee, “We would have to have the vaccine – and we are still in a struggle to get it.” The pod in place is in place and should be completed and open next week.
“We are basically a county health district under this emergency clause but we don’t have the access,” said Barbee. “We need to be steering the ship where we want it to go and keep pushing forward to get as much vaccine on the ground as swiftly as we can.”
Commission Chairman, Pete Olsen commended the county’s staff and the heroic effort that went into building and running the testing facility . “There were a lot of days that weren’t comfortable for our staff and they have done a phenomenal job,” stated Olsen. Regarding the inability to get the vaccines needed, Olsen commented, “This is a slap in the face to our community. I hope this is some sort of bureaucratic bumbling and we will get this to a better place.”
Other COVID related news:
Vaccines: Johnson & Johnson recently released their singe-dose COVID-19 vaccine. It is the third vaccine authorized to be used in the U.S.
New Stimulus Possible: A third COVID-19 stimulus bill has moved to the Senate and includes another stimulus payment of $1,400, but this round will not be for higher wage earners. There is a push to include adult dependents and families with mixed-citizenship status.
Virus Variants: According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a new virus variant has one or more mutations that differentiate it from the wild-type or predominant virus variants already circulating among the general population. As expected, multiple variants of COVID-19 have been documented in the United States. Research continues to uncover more about the variants. Some have been reported to be more contagious and spread more quickly, but there is no evidence at this time that the variant strains are more dangerous than SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
Governor to Lessen Restrictions: As Nevada continues to experience a downturn in the number of positive COVID cases, Governor Sisolak plans transfer authority to local officials regarding some the restrictions set forth during the pandemic. If the trend continues, some of that transfer will begin on March 15.
State Data: Statewide, the COVID-19 positivity rate has dropped to 7.6%, with no new deaths reported and hospitalizations decreasing.
Local Data: Positivity rates continue to drop in Churchill County.
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