North Central District starts taking vaccine appointments for those 65 or older

Public Health – Idaho North Central District began scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments for people 65 or older Monday, in line with Gov. Brad Little’s vaccine prioritization schedule.

The district estimates there are 22,000 people that fall into this priority group. The health district is receiving an average of 1,375 doses per week and vaccine supplies continue to be limited. As a result, appointments are limited and vaccine providers are expecting a significant surge in demand.

The health district has a list of vaccine providers helping with this effort at idahopublichealth.com. Anyone seeking to schedule an appointment with the health district is asked to visit www.idahoprepmod.com and search for the nearest vaccine clinic. As more vaccine is allocated to the five counties in north central Idaho, more appointments will become available. Because of safety precautions and availability, appointments are required. No walk-in appointments will be accepted.

In Washington, people can locate a vaccine provider and a phase rollout at www.doh.wa.gov.

* The North Central District reported an increase of 32 COVID-19 cases Monday for a district-wide total of 8,266. There were no new deaths reported.

Clearwater County reported two new cases; Idaho County three; Latah County 16; Lewis County one; and Nez Perce County 10.

Asotin County Public Health reported four new cases, including one new hospitalization, for a county total of 1,266 cases.

Whitman County received 33 new positive COVID-19 test results over the weekend and Monday, bringing the county total to 3,188. All cases are stable and self-isolating. No new deaths were reported.

Garfield County had no new updates.

* St. Joseph Regional Medical Center reported there are four patients at the hospital who have tested positive and are being treated for COVID-19. That is down by two from Jan. 25 and down nine from the high of 13 patients on Dec. 28.

* Idaho Gov. Brad Little will make an announcement at 9 a.m. PST today regarding Idaho’s COVID-19 response. The announcement will be streamed to the public online at www.idahoptv.org.

Also, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare will hold a media briefing about COVID-19 vaccine at 1:30 p.m. PST today. Dave Jeppesen, director of the department, and Elke Shaw-Tulloch, public health administrator, will offer brief remarks and an update on the status of the vaccine in Idaho, and then answer questions from the media.

The general public can join the briefing as attendees in listen/watch-only mode by selecting this link: bit.ly/3oCKCZS.

* The Whitman County Commissioners on Monday appointed Chris Skidmore as the county’s permanent Public Health director.

Skidmore has served as interim director since Troy Henderson left the post in November.

“I just want to thank you guys for the opportunity to serve and I see some good things happening for the county,” Skidmore told the commissioners during their weekly meeting Monday.

Commissioner Art Swannack said the commissioners reviewed other applications, but felt confident Skidmore could continue in the post following his months of service as interim.

“We thought he’d be a really good appointment permanently,” Swannack said. “I believe Chris will do an excellent job into the future.”

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326. Anthony Kuipers of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News contributed to this report.