The initial shipment of vaccine to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic is expected to arrive in Oklahoma between now and Dec. 14 and area health care workers are among those who will receive vaccinations in Phase 1.
Sarah King, Acting Public Information Officer with the Pottawatomie County Health Department, explained that specific schedules of when the vaccinations are to be given are not being released to the public yet.
“At this point, people don’t need to do anything about signing up to receive the vaccinations. We are asking the public to be patient with us. The information will be released to the public as needed,” she added.
King is also a Community Health Education and Planning Lead for the County Health Department.
King said those who are to receive the vaccine in the first phase are being contacted. They include health care workers with high exposure risk and staff of nursing homes, assisted living and long term care facilities and residents of those facilities.
Tonya Reid, CHES/ Health Educator and a spokesperson for the Lincoln County Health Department, echoed King’s explanation and those who will receive it in Phase 1.
“Our most at-risk populations that will be on the front lines are included in the vaccine distribution plan. To ensure our priority populations are the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, predetermined sites have been identified around the state that will receive initial vaccine shipments.
“These sites were selected based on strategic location, ability to meet storage handling requirements of the vaccine, including the ultra-cold storage and their willingness to participate in the program,” Reid said.
Both King and Reid said, “For the purposes of security, we are not publicly announcing where the vaccine will be stored.”
In Phase 1 the vaccine supply is limited and reserved for vulnerable populations.
“Facilities that will provide the vaccinations are already signing up and getting everything in line to handle the vaccine,” King said.
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, as of Dec. 4 there are 537 Pandemic vaccination providers across the state who have enrolled to provide the vaccine as it becomes available.
Of those, there are 12 in Pottawatomie County and three in Lincoln County. In Lincoln County, they are:
The Lincoln County Health Department in Chandler, the Main Street Family Healthcare Nurse Practitioner C in Stroud and the SSM Health Chandler Clinic.
In Pottawatomie County, they include:
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services-East Clinic, Citizen Potawatomi Nation West Clinic, Pottawatomie County Health Department, SSM Health Medical Group-Koons, SSM Health-Shawnee, SSM Health Medical Group Family Healthcare Clinic, SSM Health Medical Group Tecumseh/SSM Health Tecumseh, SSM Medical Group McLoud, SSM Health Medical Group-IM1-Shawnee, SSM Health Medical Group-PULM/SSM Medical Group Koons, SSM-Shawnee Family Med and St Anthony Shawnee Hospital.
The OSDH said Phase 2 begins when vaccine supply allows and will be avail able to:
-First responders and health care workers in outpatient facilities. -Adults 65 and older.
-Staff at congregate locations.
-State and tribal government leaders.
Phase 3 begins when vaccine supply allows and will be available to:
-Teachers, students and staff in educational settings.
-Critical infrastructure or essential business personnel.
Phase 4 will occur in 2021 and when the vaccine supply is sufficient and will become readily available to the general public.
Reid indicated as the vaccine is distributed across county health departments that local jurisdictions will be contacting specific organizations in the phase one priority groups to begin scheduling clinics.
“Once the vaccine is available to the general public later in 2021, public announcements and web based vaccine finder locations will be established,” she said.