Idaho poised to accept COVID-19 vaccines

SANDPOINT — Vaccines against the novel coronavirus are poised to be shipped to Idaho soon, according to the Panhandle Health District.

The Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee has recommended that the first to receive the vaccine should be frontline healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients and residents of longterm care facilities.

"Vaccines are going to be directly sent to either the health district or hospitals that have requested an amount of the first shipment. Since they are healthcare providers, they are able to administer the vaccine to the people that they’ve identified that need to receive it first," health district spokeswoman Katherine Hoyer said on Friday.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare recently announced the state will receive 13,650 initial doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in the next couple of weeks. Of those, Panhandle Health District is slated to receive 1,950.

The Food and Drug Administration's advisory committee formally recommended that the agency to provide an Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech Manufacturing vaccines, the Washington Post reported on Friday evening. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also has to provide authorization prior to any distribution of the vaccines.

ACIP is comprised of medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the civilian population of the U.S. The recommendations stand as public health guidance for safe use of vaccines and related biological products.

The state of Idaho is initially slated to receive 13,650 doses, 1,950 of which are earmarked for use by Panhandle Health, the public health agency for Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties.

"This first shipment could be arriving as early as next week," Hoyer said. "Tentatively, there could be additional shipments sent this month. If we receive some next week it’s possible that we could receive a second shipment the following week and a third shipment the week after that," said Hoyer.

The total number of doses that the state is expected to receive in the second and third shipments is estimated to be 89,150, according to the health district.

The state is recommending essential workers — first responders, pre-K-12 school staff, teachers and daycare workers — be next in line once healthcare personnel and longterm care residents are squared away. Also included in the essential worker cohort are correctional and detention facility staff, food processing workers, grocery and convenience store workers, non-medical Idaho National Guard personnel and other essential workers who have not already been vaccinated and are unable to work remotely.

"As it becomes more widely available, the plan right now in Idaho is to have the vaccine start to become shipped not only to hospitals but to other medical providers and pharmacies so that way people can go directly to a pharmacy and receive the vaccine. This is down the road but that’s the plan right now," said Hoyer.

The health district plans to provide timely updates about vaccine distribution when they become available.

“It’s important for the public to know that there are still a lot of unknowns regarding the supply and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines,” Lora Whalen, District Director for Panhandle Health District, said in a statement. “We will continue to communicate with our community as we learn more. We know many of you are eager to receive the vaccine and we want to make sure you have accurate and timely information.”

Both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines require two doses. Pfizer's second dose is at day 21 and the Moderna second dose is at day 28, the health district said. According to the CDC, vaccine doses purchased with U.S. taxpayer dollars will be given to the American people at no cost. However, vaccination providers will be able to charge an administration fee for giving the shot to someone, the district said.

Vaccine providers can get this fee reimbursed by the patient’s public or private insurance company or, for uninsured patients, by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund.

Based on available data, COVID-19 vaccination is expected to elicit general post- vaccination symptoms, such as fever, headache, and body aches. These symptoms are more common after the second dose of the vaccine. Some won’t experience any noticeable side effects. The side effects are a sign that your body’s immune system is responding and building protection. It takes around two weeks for an individual to build immunity after receiving a vaccine. All of the vaccines in clinical trials in the U.S. do not contain live viruses, and so would be unable to cause COVID-19 in a vaccine recipient.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com or followed on Twitter @KeithDailyBee