Idaho Falls wants to make clear: COVID-19 mandates arent being enforced locally

Author : xpnew

Publish Date : 2021-02-13 17:06:03

Idaho Falls wants to make clear: COVID-19 mandates arent being enforced locally

Council President Michelle Ziel-Dingman said she knows of several business owners who closed their doors, worrying their small buildings would put them in violation of the order and potentially result in them being jailed.

She asked for the resolution to be repealed entirely. The council settled on nixing language referencing mandate enforcement immediately on a unanimous vote Tuesday. The body also organized plans to replace the resolution Thursday.

If you sign up after that deadline, the health district should call you between Feb. 22 and Feb. 26 to tell you when you can get a shot.

Are you eligible for a shot? Who else is administering the vaccine?

Here’s a quick guide to eastern Idaho’s vaccine rollout.

1: How do you get a shot?

If you want to go through the Eastern Idaho Public Health, which gets a third of the 2,500 doses that come to nearly 40 providers in the health district each week, sign up to be on its lottery by either completing calling 208-533-3223.

In each county, several medical providers , including some family doctors, also are giving out shots. The other two-thirds of vaccine doses that are dedicated for a county are split evenly between health care providers and pharmacies, EIPH spokeswoman Mimi Taylor said in an email.

Regional infection rates are down significantly. Many state and local restrictions have loosened. Ziel-Dingman said the resolution “should change as a result.”

“It’s my understanding that this just hasn’t had the impact that perhaps we thought it did at the time,” she said of the resolution. She said people were worried they’d be arrested; the resolution said the city “will develop and execute” by Dec. 1 a plan to fine and prosecute event organizers who violated gathering restrictionsin cases of a “clear and significant violation.” Ziel-Dingman said the resolution was more intended to “try to prevent and try to discourage those (large) events” and to “make clear that we supported those” health restrictions.

If you can’t get to an appointment for a medical reason (besides an active COVID-19 infection), you might be able to get assistance.

If you are considered home-bound, EIPH may pass information to the Idaho Falls Fire Department, which can help arrange plans for your vaccine appointment, Taylor said. The health district doesn’t have strict criteria to determine whether a person is “home-bound,” Taylor said.

2: Where do you get a shot?

In Bonneville County, the health district says 14 different providers, including EIPH, are giving out vaccines.

— Priority group 1: About 46,000 Idahoans fall into this group of health care workers, such as doctors, dentists, emergency medical service workers and home care providers. This group, which became eligible for vaccines in December, also includes staff and residents in long-term care facilities, where outbreaks are linked with about 40% of Idaho’s nearly 1,800 COVID-19 deaths.

— Priority group 2: Vaccinations for this group began Jan. 12, with “frontline” essential workers up first. That includes first responders, pre-school and K-12 employees, child care workers and jail staff. Then, on Feb. 1, over 265,000 Idahoans age 65 and up who live independently became eligible. That’s what the state is calling phase 2.b.

Because only 25,000 first vaccine doses are coming into the state weekly, officials estimate it’ll take at least two months to vaccinate all seniors who want it. The state says vaccinations for one priority group won’t necessarily be done when the next group becomes eligible.

In early April, Idaho health leaders hope to start letting even more essential workers get shots. The state’s vaccine panel has recommended that group include homeless shelter residents, workers in food and agriculture, manufacturing, public transit, the U.S. Postal Service, the Idaho National Guard and utility workers who work indoors.

— Priority group 3: This group hasn’t been set yet. It’s expected to begin in late April, giving access to around 500,000 other essential workers and Idahoans age 16 and up with ”high-risk medical conditions.” The state’s vaccine panel is still discussing this group; it issues recommendations to Gov. Brad Little, who makes the final call.

— Priority group 4: Everyone else age 16 and up who hasn’t gotten vaccinated should become eligible for shots by May. A COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been approved for children, who comprise a quarter of Idaho’s estimated 1.8 million population — a rate that is higher than 47 other states.

4: What about last-minute shots?

Some vaccine providers keep a list of people they can call if they have leftover shots, either because someone skipped out on their appointment or nurses were able to get an extra dose or two out of a vial.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Jeppesen have complained that Idaho was not getting as many doses, compared to its population, as other states. The big reason, they say, is that the federal government is doling out doses based on the number of adults in each state. Idaho has one of the nation's highest proportion of children. Vaccines aren't yet approved for them.

Idaho's leaders have also suggested that Census estimates for Idaho, which is rapidly growing in population, may not reflect reality. Jeppesen reiterated that claim Tuesday.

Idaho has made multiple moves lately in hopes of boosting transparency, including by publishing a detailed public data system that allows people to see how many vaccine doses providers near them have given out and where shots are sitting in freezers.

The data stems from an executive order Little issued Jan. 28. Providers have 72 hours to tell the state when they give out shots, which may delay some reporting.

About 71%, or 189,000 of the 266,000 total COVID-19 vaccine doses that the state has received by Monday have been administered, Jeppesen said. Ninety-one percent of doses dedicated as first shots in Idaho have been given. "There's less than one week's inventory in the state right now," Jeppesen said. "The providers are doing a great job of getting those first doses out within seven days, which is our goal."

Jeppesen said 13,600 doses were being pulled from Walgreens, which was tasked with vaccinating some long-term care facility residents through a federal partnership. Combined with the 12,600 the state pulled from CVS last week, Idaho officials have reallocated 26,200 doses from an initiative that began late December and has been slower than hoped for.

Still, Jeppesen said, about a fifth of all seniors in the state — or 62,500 Idahoans age 65 and up — have received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine shot.

It wasn't immediately clear how many of those were seniors living in facilities; state officials estimate 265,000 of the 291,000 Idaho seniors live independently. That large group only became eligible Feb. 1.

The state is now getting about 20,000 booster shots each week.

Jeppesen said the rate of people who receive their first virus shot and weeks later get their booster shot at the correct time is in the high 90% range.

State immunization head Sarah Leeds said the state's vaccine tracking system will soon be updated to collect data on race and ethnicity. That data should become public this weekend, she said. Previously, state officials erroneously claimed they were legally prohibited from collecting such information. Jeppesen walked back that claim last week, after the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Reports published articles saying they could not identify any state law prohibiting Idaho from collecting such data.

Others, such as Councilman Jim Francis, argued removing the resolution immediately would send the wrong message and lead fewer people to wear masks, stay home and wash their hands. He said the city didn’t message well enough with the last resolution. He doesn’t want a repeat.

“Whatever we do today, the messaging is crucial,” said Francis, who formally initiated the partial rewrite Tuesday. “Because (if) we rescind it and let rumor and media decide what it means, it’s going to be the totally wrong message. We are not giving up trying to mitigate this disease.”

State and regional health officials who support moves to lift mandates have adopted similar messaging.