Ogle Health Department: Initial vaccinations still being distributed; general public not yet on deck

OREGON – The Ogle County Health Department fields so many calls daily from residents wondering when they can get vaccinated that it’s becoming overwhelming.

“They can help us by not calling,” Administrator Kyle Auman said. “We’ll let them know. The best thing they can do is wait their turn. We’re working with employers to schedule them. Just wait your turn and we’ll notify you.”

Ogle County still is in phase 1A of vaccine distribution, which is strictly health care and long-term care workers, and likely will be for the rest of the month, he said. Those in 1A got the second and final leg of the vaccine last week.

The health department and its hospital partners are waiting on guidance for phase 1B and have been told to stay within 1A for now. Two deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine have been received so far.

“1B will be essential front line workers, police and fire, any other first responders, schools, large manufacturers, utilities, correction officers, and maybe transportation. It’s a large phase. It may take longer,” Auman said

“A good majority” of those up for the vaccine are wanting it, but some have expressed concern. State, federal and local officials saying it’s safe for a crucial population should help its case going forward, he said.

State and federal guidance has been slow to come at times.

“It’s been a struggle,” Auman said. “We’re all vying for some resources and information. We’re working through it. We redistribute to local hospitals and try to administer it as fast as possible.”

The health department will be working with the state system that went live Friday to structure appointments, register people and keep track of vaccine organization.

It takes 2 weeks for the first vaccine dose to be effective; it gives 50% immunity. The second dose gives 95% immunity. It will take “some time” before vaccinations reduce COVID-19 numbers.

“It’s going to take time to get a large number of the public vaccinated,” Auman said. “And there’s still a chance there even with that 95%. The goal is herd immunity. That needs a large percentage of people to get it. It will be some time.”

Auman said he’s seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases statewide, regionally and locally. The state recently was down to 3,000 new cases a day but now is back to more than 5,000.

“It’s something to keep an eye on. It’s down from the peak, but it’s slightly upward now. We’re doing contact tracing. The next couple weeks will show what happened with the past week.”

Despite recent holidays, Auman said there haven’t been any county outbreaks that “really stand out.” He cited some smaller events including parties in homes. There haven’t been reports of large parties at public facilities that saw outbreaks.

With not enough time passing since the start of the new year, Auman said he doesn’t believe the county is “In the clear yet.”