County COVID update: ‘If we don’t receive any additional vaccine this week, we will run out’
The Sedgwick County official in charge of COVID-19 logistics warned Tuesday that vaccine supplies are running short, at the same time the state is preparing to move on from limiting vaccinations to health-care workers and nursing-home residents.
“Since Dec. 23, the Health Department has provided 7,780 vaccine doses to health-care associated workers,” said Assistant County Manager Tim Kaufman. “That leaves us with 2,090 vaccine doses available. As of this morning, there were 984 appointment scheduled through the rest of the week.”
Thursday is the earliest the county will get any word on resupply for its vaccination center at the Intrust Bank Arena.
“If we don’t receive any additional vaccine this week, we will run out and we’ll be waiting for vaccine to come,” Kaufman said.
Wichita’s two main hospital groups have administered about 3,000 additional shots to their own personnel, he said.
The Health Department would have long since run out of vaccine if GraceMed, a nonprofit clinic affiliated with the United Methodist Church, hadn’t shared its allocation.
“The county’s initial allocation of COVID-19 vaccines was 1,400 and then we received an additional 8,500 doses from GraceMed,” Kaufman said.
“We (County Health) have not received any additional vaccine . . . since our initial shipment in December and there is no official word whether we’ll receive more. But we do believe we’ll get some either late this week or more likely next week.”
Kaufman said from talks with Gov. Laura Kelly, he expects the the first phase of vaccine distribution to run through the end of the month.
Phase 2 of vaccinations will allow distribution to a larger group, including persons 65 and older, critical worker with a high chance of exposure to the coronavirus and persons living in congregated settings such as group homes for the disabled.
“The governor and KDHE have indicated the state will move to Phase 2 together, so once the entire state has vaccinated their health-care workers, then we will move as a state into Phase 2,” Kaufman said. “And any transition to Phase 2 is going to be dependent upon the availability of vaccine.”
But a complicating factor is that the vaccine is a two-stage process. The first shot gives 50-70% immunity and a booster shot is needed three weeks later to bring the effectiveness up to 90-plus percent.
The state will be moving into Phase 2 about the same time the workers vaccinated in Phase 1 will be due for their second dose, he said.
“We’ve started to work with the (Information Technology) Department to help people who schedule appointments navigate to the right scheduling portal so we can separate out folks who are getting second dose versus the folks that we’re trying to vaccinate for the first time,” Kaufman said.
Commissioner David Dennis said he’s found a workaround, at least for some military veterans.
He said the Bob Dole Veterans Administration Hospital has moved past vaccinating its workers and is now vaccinating veterans over 65 with underlying medical conditions that make them more susceptible to the coronavirus.
He urged older veterans to work with the VA to get their vaccination sooner, rather than waiting on the county to get adequate supplies.
“I called them yesterday and got an appointment for a week from tomorrow,” he said.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 2:55 PM.
