Idaho anticipating 5 percent increase in vaccine allotment
Idaho will receive an increase in the amount of COVID-19 vaccines allocated to the state next week, but it will still receive a far smaller allotment than other states in the nation.
During Friday’s Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Committee meeting, state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn said the Gem State ranks 47th in the nation for the number of vaccines allotted per 100,000 population.
Part of the problem, according to Hahn, is that Operation Warp Speed — a federal initiative which aims to increase the development, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines — bases its allotment on a state’s share of adult population.
“Idaho is one of the highest under-18 populations in the country,” Hahn said. “We have a higher hill to climb than some of the other states because we are getting less vaccines per 100,000.”
Sarah Leeds, the immunization program manager for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said Idaho will receive 25,425 doses next week, a 5 percent increase over this week’s allocation and a 17.7 percent increase over numbers reported two weeks ago.
That’s good news, Leeds said, but as of Tuesday, Idaho ranked 41st in the nation for the “percent of doses distributed that have been administered.”
“Of course, we have lots of room for improvement, but we are not last, and at one point I think we were,” Leeds said.
As of Friday, 134,367 people had received at least one dose of the vaccination and 32,079 people had received both doses. The total doses administered in the state was at 166,466, according to Idaho’s coronavirus webpage.
Leeds said the Retail Pharmacy Partnership was activated by the federal government sooner than she had anticipated. The program will allow for additional allocations of vaccine doses. In Idaho, there are 399 enrolled provider locations, including 23 providers in District 2, or north central Idaho. An additional 49 providers are in the process of becoming approved throughout the state.
Leeds said as of Feb. 11, Idaho will receive a prorated portion of an additional 1 million doses available through the partnership nationwide. While the number has not yet been solidified, Leeds expects that to amount to between 3,000 and 5,000 additional doses.
In other news:
Health officials in north central Idaho and southeastern Washington reported 24 new COVID-19 cases Friday.
There were 10 new cases reported in Asotin County; four in Whitman County; three in Latah County; two each in Nez Perce, Idaho and Lewis counties; and one case in Clearwater County. No new cases were reported in Garfield County.
A weekly summary on long-term care facilities provided by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare shows one additional COVID-19 death was reported at Prestige Care and Rehabilitation – The Orchards in Lewiston. The facility is listed under resolved outbreaks, but the death count increased to six, with 80 cases in all.
Gritman Medical Center in Moscow reported a seven-day positivity rate of 5.19 percent and a 14-day positivity rate of 4.87 percent. A total of 33 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have been admitted for inpatient care throughout the pandemic.
Next week, the Foley Institute at Washington State University will hold an online presentation with Bob Lutz and Amber Lenhart to discuss the response to the pandemic in the Evergreen State. The discussion will touch on vaccine availability, equity of delivery, vaccine hesitancy and other pandemic-related issues.
The presentation will take place at noon Tuesday. It can be viewed online at youtu.be/bKMsKt6_rOk.
Tomtas may be contacted at jtomtas@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2294. Follow her on Twitter @jtomtas.
