Health board hashes out Jefferson County vaccine plan
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STEUBENVILLE -- The Jefferson County Health Department could have its first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine this week, which prompted the need for a plan.
The county Board of Health held a special meeting Monday morning in the Towers Building to hash out the details with feedback from employees, local officials and members of the public in attendance.
The health department, according to officials, will be receiving an anticipated 400 doses of the Moderna vaccine - approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use during the weekend -- and could receive news of when the shipment will be arriving any time in the coming days.
"I could have received the e-mail during the course of this meeting," county Nursing Director Hannah Piko said.
"I get probably five e-mails every day from the vaccine coordinator from the state. The information is pouring in and changing rapidly," she later noted.
Once received, the county will follow Phase 1A of the Ohio Department of Health's guidelines, starting by vaccinating EMS personnel and frontline hospital workers.
"Phase 1A, for our intents and purposes, includes health care workers and personnel who are routinely involved in the care of COVID-19 patients," said Dr. Mark Kissinger, the county's medical director.
Based on discussions with county 9-1-1 Director Rob Herrington, Piko and Kissinger said they anticipate vaccinating approximately 175 EMS personnel during the first round and 50 frontline workers, such as emergency room, intensive care unit and respiratory therapy personnel from Trinity Health System.
Both vaccines currently approved for emergency use -- Moderna and Pfizer -- are administered in two doses weeks apart, with it taking an estimated two weeks after vaccination for effectiveness, according to Kissinger.
"With the first dose, it seems to be about 70 percent effective," Kissinger said. "With the second dose, it goes up to 95 percent."
A "reminder recall system" was discussed to notify people when it was time to come back for the second dose, similar to a system Piko said they use for children's vaccinations and has been used for multi-dose vaccines, such as for the shingles.
While the county is receiving Moderna for its first round, it could receive Pfizer and potential other vaccines as they become available in the future. According to Kissinger, a person needs to get both doses from the same company, so the county will get a matching amount of Moderna vaccine in the coming weeks to administer to those who receive vaccination in this first round.
Pending when the vaccine arrives (potentially even on Thursday or Friday) and with the Christmas holiday to work around, it was talked possibly beginning vaccination on Dec. 28.
"It's going to be fast moving once we do get the official word," Piko said.
It was noted the health department has an agreement with Trinity Health System for storage of its doses due to Trinity's ability to store the vaccine at the required temperature.
Whether on Dec. 28 or before, the first round of vaccination will take place at three locations in what the department has labeled as the "three regions" of the county.
The exact locations of planned vaccination sites was not disclosed due to what county Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Rick Stead called a security concern.
Piko and board member Dr. Patrick Macedonia said they were working on getting volunteers from local nursing programs to help with the vaccination at the various locations.
Piko said forms for those being vaccinated will be received closer to distribution.
The board opted not to collect billing or insurance information from those being vaccinated as the potential gain was said not to be worth the slow down of the process it could cause.
A lengthy topic of discussion was how those at vaccination sites will verify that the person receiving the vaccine is someone who should be receiving it in this phase.
Everything from showing certification papers to photo ID was discussed, with the audience chiming in several times. Eventually it was determined Kelly Wilson and Piko would contact the various organizations that have people who qualify and want to be vaccinated for lists of individuals, which will be cross checked against ID at the sites.
It was noted, when a concern about the plan being formed so late in the process was raised, that the health department received the information about receiving the Moderna vaccine within the previous 48 hours and Monday's meeting was the board's first opportunity to meet with the staff about it.
"We just got this information two days ago," Macedonia said. "It's not like we could have sat here two weeks ago and started planning because we didn't know what we were planning for ... now we actually have information from the state, from the CDC, we know we're going to get the doses."
It was also noted by Stead that the county has had a mass vaccination plan for when enough doses are available for the general public for some time, with supplies having already been purchased.
Piko noted the discussion was scaling down that plan to fit to first, smaller rounds of vaccination. She also said the county tested its plan with a drive-through flu shot program and has had similar plans in place since the H1N1 outbreak in 2009.
Macedonia noted there will likely be more such meetings of the board when the state reaches phases 1B, 2 and so on.
It was also noted mass distribution to the general public is not anticipated before February.
Kissinger also noted that while the vials on vaccine have been packaged to be a set number of doses, as vaccination has started, it's been discovered that there are actually more doses in a vial.
"One of the things that we have seen that some of the vaccines so far come in multi-dose vials supposed to be five doses per vial," he said. "They have found that many of the vials have more than enough for five, so they'll have six or seven. The FDA has said since this is experimental, you are permitted to use the remaining amount.
"Theoretically, we can stretch the supply by as much as 40 percent."
County Commissioner Tom Gentile,Ccommissioner-elect Tony Morelli and Steubenville City Manager Jim Mavromatis were among local officials present, asking questions and offering feedback.
"The community wants to know when (the vaccines) are coming and what the plan is," Morelli said. "There are people who will help. It seems like Mrs. Piko is getting a lot thrown on her and I commend her work and the rest of the staff."