COVID-19 Unified Command officials expect to remain in vaccination phase 1b until May as Governor Pete Ricketts announced changes to the plan, noting that the vaccinations will be available to people 65 and older, with a focus on those 75 and older to start, before moving to the next part of the plan.
Panhandle Public Health Director Kim Engel shared the news during a briefing on Monday afternoon.
“His (Governor Ricketts) expectation is that at least 90 percent of the vaccine goes to 65 and older before we get into other tiers on phase 1b,” said Engel. “This will likely mean that we’re in phase 1b to or through May. We’re not sure, depending on the percentage of people who want to take the vaccine, which we hope is very high.”
Other tiers in phase 1b include first responders, utility workers, homeless shelter staff, educators, funeral home employees, food and agriculture workers, members of the U.S. Postal Service and transportation.
“People with medical conditions, you’re still in 1b, and you’ll be worked in the different tiers,” Engel said. “If you’re 65 and older, we ask that you continue to use our signup on our website. If you’re younger than 65 and have medical conditions, then wait a little bit until the state signup comes up.”
People 65 and older can signup to receive the vaccine at https://tinyurl.com/ycpxzr5d, or by calling 308-262-5764, or 308-633-2866 extension 101.
As of Monday, 6,321 people have signed up to receive the vaccine. When the vaccines are available, individuals on the waiting list will be contacted to set up an appointment. So far, 4,648 Panhandle residents have been administered the vaccine. People who have received the first dose of the vaccine will be contacted by the vaccine provider to set up an appointment to receive the second dose.
Those with state defined medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes or hypertension, are asked to wait until the state survey is available. Officials anticipate that survey to be available within the next week.
As the vaccination rollout continues, officials are asking people to continue wearing masks, frequently washing your hands and staying home if sick or have been exposed to COVID-19.
Officials noted that a sampling of the tests for COVID-19 are being tested for the new variant that has been seen in other states.
“We have some in our area that haven’t been identified,” Engel said. “We don’t know that the variant is here, but there is random testing. Once the test is ran for COVID-19, then they also, on a certain percentage, just see if they are detecting the other variant also.”
Since testing began in March 2020, there have been a total of 881 coronavirus cases in Box Butte County, with 24 cases occurring in the last 14 days. Eight cases in Box Butte County have resulted in death since the outbreak.