Employees of the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department filled every available vaccination appointment in less than an hour this morning after officials announced the first round of inoculations for residents 80 years old and older.
Health Department Administrator Howard Gamble announced on Jan. 2 that a clinic would be staged this Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the first floor of the Ohio County Courthouse.
“The health department received a lot of calls as soon as they opened for the day,” explained Lou Vargo, director of the Ohio County Emergency Management Agency. “Because we have seen a lot of hot stops in our continuous care facilities in the county, the thought was to get more of those people vaccinated with this shipment, too, so we could avoid any outbreaks at those places.
“That meant that when the phones started ringing, there were only 70 to 80 doses left for the appointments for residents 80 years old and older,” he said. “Eighty people in a county the size of Ohio County is a drop in the bucket. But we are totally dependent on the state and its distribution of the vaccines.”
According to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age in Ohio County in 2018 was around 45 years old, and that means thousands of the county’s 45,000 residents are in the 80-plus demographic.
“We have a lot of older people who live in this region, so it is frustrating to receive so few of the doses right now,” Vargo said. “It’s not Ohio County, either, because the same is true in the entire panhandle and in East Ohio. That’s one of the reasons why it was so important for the health departments to get the vaccine in the nursing homes in the Valley.
“We also have been getting calls from local residents who have other medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus, so that’s why we are anxious to get guidance from the state Department of Health and Human Resources and Gov. Jim Justice,” he continued. “We just want to get as many people protected as possible.”
Future Plans
If the amounts of doses do not increase in the future, clinics similar to the plan for this Wednesday will take place as the supply allows, but Vargo is hopeful for far more than the 100 included in the first shipment.
“We would rather the state sends us 800 doses, not 80 of them,” the EMA director said. “We’re hopeful that the health department will have more information about the next shipment for the people of Ohio County, but right now we are not positive when more will come in. We were informed when we would receive the vaccines for the initial phases with the hospital’s front liners, the first responders, and the nursing homes.
“We’re hoping the state will let the health department know by tomorrow when more will be delivered for those 80 and up,” he said. “We saw this morning that the demand is definitely there and that people want this protection. Right now, the plan is to keep having the clinics at the health department because we do not know the quantity of the next shipment. If we were to get hundreds next time, we could easily open up Wesbanco Arena to accommodate more people within that demographics.”
No matter if the state’s distribution remains limited, the process at the clinics will be the same at the courthouse as it would be at the arena. A drive-thru style clinic, however, likely will not take place in Ohio County.
“I know some counties want to do the vaccinations using the drive-thru process, but in a conversation with a friend of mine from New Jersey, we determined that it’s not the best idea because if an 80 year old is driving, and they have a bad reaction to the dose, something very bad could happen.
“If we do receive enough of the vaccines to have a mass distribution, the process will be to register, go through the medical screening that involves questions about health history and allergies, get the first shot, and then go to a designated area for observation,” he explained. “Now, during the process for the second shot 21 or 28 days later, a few questions will be added so we can find out about the reactions that have been experienced after the first dose.”
Stay Home If …
The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department also has scheduled a vaccination clinic for staff and faculty members at Wheeling University and West Virginia Northern Community College for tomorrow, but because the administrator has received only 40 doses for the first higher education clinic, it is invitation based.
However, if any individuals invited are displaying symptoms of Covid-19 and have tested positive, they are asked to remain in quarantine for the recommended time period. The same, Vargo said, is true for those 80 and up who have established an inoculation appointment.
“If you are symptomatic and you’ve tested positive, you have to remain in that 10-day isolation window and cannot be vaccinated until after that period is complete,” he said. “It’s been recommended by health experts that they should not get the vaccine. Now, some people are asking if they need to get the two shots if they already have had Covid, and that answer is absolutely.
“We want as many people as possible to get vaccinated because that means more people are protected against this virus,” he said. “And we’re hoping the surrounding counties have high numbers, too, because borders don’t stop people from going to their favorite stores and restaurants in this area.”
