Washington and Johnson counties are moving forward with COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The first mass vaccination clinic for people 65 and older in Washington County, originally scheduled for Feb. 6, was rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11. The clinic, held at the Parkside YMCA in Wellman, will provide 340 doses of the Modrerna vaccine. When the appointment window opened for the clinic at 8 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 1, many citizens had difficulty getting through to Washington County Public Health on the phone. Indications are that a few thousand people were trying to call.

Danielle Pettit-Majewski, Washington County Public Health administrator, said that by 8:02, the department knew there was a problem with the phone lines. Officials at the county courthouse reported Feb. 7 at the Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting that the phone were out until about 3 p.m.

Emergency Management Director Marisa Reisen explained that, in addition to the courthouse phones, there were others in the city and that, while call volume contributed to the difficulties, there were other “technical problems.”

Washington County Public Health is planning to hold more vaccination clinics as doses become available.

“We have a huge demand,” Pettit-Majewski said. “And not enough vaccine.”

Allocations of vaccine to the state and the county are based on population, she explained. She said some counties have gotten 100 doses, some more, and some have yet to receive any.

A resident at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Feb. 7, noting he had difficulties and expressing sympathy for the public health staff, asked what the public could do to help with future clinics.

“Right now, nothing,” Pettit-Majewski said. She said the situation is one of having to do too much with too little, however she was hopeful that by summer, there will be enough vaccine for everyone who wants it.

Washington County residents are encouraged to look to the Washington County Public Health website at washph.com and their social media accounts for more information about future vaccination clinics.

The Retail Pharmacy Program is slated to begin the week of Feb. 8 in the state of Iowa. Hy-Vee and Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network (CPESN) pharmacies have been selected by the CDC as providers for the program.

Johnson County Public Health said that participating pharmacy locations and details on how to make an appointment will be announced when the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) provides them.

Information about how to create electronic accounts with several pharmacies, in order to be prepared for when appointments become available, are listed on the Johnson County Coronavirus Information Hub at coronavirus-johnsoncounty.hub.arcgis.com.

Iowa is currently operating under Phase 1B of vaccine rollout. Persons aged 65 and older are eligible for the vaccine at any time, whereas other Phase 1B individuals are grouped into five tiers.

Tier 1 includes first responders (such as firefighters, police officers, child welfare and social workers), and PK-12 school staff, early education and childcare workers. Tier 2 includes food, agriculture, distribution and manufacturing workers in congregate settings that don’t allow for social distancing and individuals with disabilities living in home settings and their direct care staff. Tier 3 includes staff of and individuals living in congregate settings (does not include college dorms)and government officials engaged in state business at the Iowa Capitol during the legislative season. Tier 4 includes inspectors responsible for hospital, long-term care and child safety and Tier 5 includes correctional facility staff and incarcerated individuals.

In late January, IDPH launched a new vaccine administration dashboard and vaccine provider locator tool to deliver a statewide view of the vaccination effort in the state.

The vaccine administration dashboard, available at coronavirus.iowa.gov/pages/vaccineinformation, provides metrics such as the number of individuals who have received one or both doses of vaccine, total doses administered by recipient county of residence and by provider county and administration rates by age group, sex, race and ethnicity.

The vaccine provider map lists approved pharmacies and organizations who can administer vaccine as it becomes available.

“Vaccine remains in very short supply,” IDPH said in a press release. “As vaccine supply increases, these tools make finding local vaccine provider information easily accessible to Iowans… We encourage Iowans to remain patient as more vaccine arrives in the weeks and months ahead.”

IDPH learned in late January that, through Feb. 15, the state will receive 19,500 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 25,800 first doses of the Moderna vaccine per week. They also learned that approximately 64,000 doses of vaccine originally allocated to the Long-Term Care Pharmacy Partnership Program will be redistributed to the state’s priority populations. These doses will be sent directly to a limited number of stores to vaccinate individuals aged 65 and older.