The agency said it was nearing completion of distributing the vaccine to so-called Phase 1A priority groups, which include health professionals, first responders and long-term residents.
The healthcare professionals who are distributing the COVID-19 vaccines will soon provide information to their patients about when individuals can make an appointment to receive the vaccine.
FCPH said it encourages residents to observe communications from their healthcare providers and visit providers’ websites for the most up-to-date information on vaccine distribution.
Residents who do not have a health care provider or whose provider does not cover the COVID-19 vaccine can use the COVID-19 Vaccine Phase 1B Resident Contact Form to share their information with FCPH.
The use of the contact form will allow future communication of vaccination opportunities to residents in the Phase 1B priority groups, as these opportunities become available.
FCPH is a registered provider for the COVID-19 vaccine and follows North Dakota Department of Health recommendations and guidelines related to vaccine distribution.
“While we hope to provide this important vaccine to some of our most at-risk residents in the coming weeks, we also ask for continued patience from the community, as it will be some time before we can move on to the next priority groups,” said Suzanne Schaefer, director of nursing at FCPH .
“We are working to provide safe and controlled vaccination clinics to residents of Cass County as their priority group is at the top of the list. Multiple vaccination opportunities will be available over the weeks,” added Schaefer.
According to the guidance provided to FCPH by the North Dakota Department of Health, Phase 1B priority groups include the following (in order of priority):
- People aged 75 and over
- People aged 65 to 74 with two or more high-risk medical conditions
- Employees and people living in other congregated environments (ie corrections, group houses, treatment centers, shelters for the homeless, etc.)
- People aged 65 and over with one or more high-risk medical conditions
- People aged 65 and over with or without high-risk medical conditions
- People with two or more high-risk medical conditions, regardless of age
- Child care workers
- Workers employed by pre-schools or kindergarten up to 12th grade: teachers, nutritional services, auxiliaries, bus drivers, directors, administrative staff, janitors, etc.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, high-risk medical conditions include:
Asked on Wednesday about why the CDC lists smoking as a high-risk medical condition, Cass County officials on Wednesday referred the issues to the federal agency.
Essentia Health and Sanford Health recently announced that they will start vaccinating members of the general public soon and said that patients should be aware of their healthcare professionals’ notifications about when vaccines will be available to them.
Liz Bjur, public health nurse at Clay County Public Health, said on Wednesday that the agency is still working to vaccinate Phase 1A priority groups, which include EMS workers and other first responders.
“We vaccinated 500 (people) last week,” said Bjur, adding: “We are ready to vaccinate and we have the capacity to vaccinate, but we are waiting for more supply from the state”.
Bjur said qualified nursing facilities in Clay County were vaccinated through the Federal Pharmacy Partnership Program, which she said should start vaccinating assisted living facilities in the county this week.
She said it was not known when Clay County would start vaccinating Phase 1B priority groups, adding that the county had not yet received guidance from the state of Minnesota on which groups to include.