County releases doses held as boosters for initial vaccines - The Lawton Constitution

State health officials were forced to adjust vaccine distribution plans after learning boosters held by Operation Warp Speed in reserve for second doses never existed. Now counties will use those vaccines, initially held as boosters, for initial doses.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said last week the federal government would begin releasing vaccine doses held in reserve for booster shots. However, no reserve ever existed said Keith Reed, the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s deputy commissioner, who was briefed on the plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out all available vaccines near the end of December.

One adjustment the state made, according to Brandie Combs, regional director of the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Region 5, is to immediately push out vaccines originally held back and intended to be used as second doses or booster shots. This, said Combs, was to ensure all who received the initial dose would receive the booster. She said there is no difference between the initial and booster doses. However, Combs believes everyone will get their second dose, just later than anticipated.

“I’m not as confident we will have the second dose as I was yesterday. I am confident OSDH will do all they can to ensure we have the vaccine we need,” Combs said. “It really depends on the federal government providing the inventory. Bottom line is we want and will do whatever we can to get the second doses in arms.”

Combs said during the initial roll-out of the vaccine, Operation Warp Speed was sending doses with two separate labels — initial dose and booster. She said basically for every initial dose given, a booster would be set aside to guarantee that person would receive their second dose on time. But that plan changed Tuesday with the realization the promised federal reserve did not exist.

Now state health department officials are releasing those boosters to be used as initial doses, Reed said, with the hope that showing the government that Oklahoma was using all its vaccines would entice the feds to increase shipments.

“Understand that we’re not going to sit on inventory and hold it in a freezer for three and four weeks,” Reed said. “Because that vaccine has got to get into the arms of Oklahomans. That’s how we’re going to interrupt transmission. So we’ve got to keep it moving.”

Reed said by demonstrating to the federal government that the state is able to “burn through” the current vaccine at a high rate, the Feds would need to consider Oklahoma for a higher allocation of the vaccine.

Reed said this week the state received an allocation of 80,000 doses which includes both initial and booster. This shipment was considerably less than the 200,000 or more doses he expected to receive from the non-existent reserves. However, he said he is confident everyone will still get their doses and encourages everyone to use the state’s appointment portal.

In the next week those who received their first doses during the early days of distribution will be coming up on their second dose. He said the appointment website should update soon with an option for initial dose or second dose and choose the appropriate option to schedule an appointment.

Combs encourages everyone to utilize the state’s portal at https://vaccinate.oklahoma.gov/ to register for the vaccine and set up appointments for initial or second doses. She said for those without access to internet or who may need assistance registering or scheduling an appointment can call the help line at 211 or (580)-248-5890.

The Link Lonk


January 20, 2021 at 02:00PM
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County releases doses held as boosters for initial vaccines - The Lawton Constitution

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