Despite the state of Iowa opening up the COVID-19 vaccine to persons 64 and under with high risk medical conditions, Muscatine County Public Health is still focused on reaching those who are 65 and older and in need of the vaccine.
The state amended its order March 4 to move those 64 and under with certain health conditions to Phase 1B (from 1C). According to Muscatine County Public Health Director Christy Roby Williams, the county is still focused on reaching the 7,000 people in Muscatine County who are 65 and over.
However, pharmacies can begin targeting the 64 and under population who have high-risk medical conditions. “Public Health is targeting the workforce and those 65 and over. Pharmacies can target all,” Roby Williams noted. “We (Public Health) won’t move on until those 65 and over have received the vaccine. We’ve been guiding folks (64 and under with health risks) to Hy-Vee, as they are getting vaccine directly.”
Roby Williams said that recently Hy-Vee had recently been getting Pfizer vaccine, which comes in allotments of 1,000 doses. Muscatine County Public Health has been getting the Moderna shots, which come in allotments of 100 doses.
“We continue to get 400 doses per week. It’s a snail’s pace process, and we’ve let the state know that,” said Roby Williams, who said while she was unsure of the total number of doses needed each week, “I wish our problem was having too much vaccine.”
Muscatine County Public Health has developed relationships with local pharmacies and doctor’s offices in the county in order to communicate with the thousands of folks in line for the vaccine. “All counties do things differently. Doctor’s offices can immediately communicate with the right patients. And pharmacies can also got directly to senior housing and places like that,” Roby Williams said.
In local Muscatine County communities, Wester Drug is now receiving vaccine directly from the state/federal government. Wester has a location in Wilton, along with a long waiting list of people wanting the vaccine. Hy-Vee Pharmacy in West Liberty can also administer COVID vaccine. Senior Resources is also working with local pharmacies to help those 65 and older who need help getting signed up for the vaccine, or may need to have it administered at home, to get vaccinated.
While Muscatine County has stressed that people in the proper phase groups will be contacted when vaccine is available, Roby Williams stressed that there are other avenues, such as watching online when pharmacies may have openings in other cities/counties.
“I encourage anybody to get the vaccine where you can. If you can find an appointment in another county, get it,” Roby Williams said.
With Muscatine County primarily administering Moderna shots via Public Health, Roby Williams said that, despite the fear of adverse reactions to the Moderna vaccine, Muscatine County Public Health has not seen any major adverse reactions reported to the federal government.
“With the first shot, most people deal with a sore arm. After the second shot, some may deal with 24-48 hours of symptoms. That’s the body’s response as it builds immunity,” said Roby Williams. The Moderna vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
For more information regarding Muscatine County Public Health’s (MCPH) continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccine disbursement, see the information boxed in on this page, submitted by MCPH.