Eastern Idaho Clinical Public Health Services Division Director Amy Gamett, applying the COVID-19 vaccination at Madison Memorial Hospital earlier this month. | Brittni Johnson, EastIdahoNews.com
BOISE (AP) – Idaho officials have released an approximate timeline of when residents can expect their turn to receive coronavirus vaccination, although much of the planning remains a work in progress and depends on the state’s supply and demand.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released on Monday the schedule it predicts will take until the end of the summer to vaccinate all adults who want the injection.
“The biggest thing we want people to realize is that the timeline is the best information we have at the moment,” said department spokeswoman Niki Forbing-Orr. “We will reach everyone who wants a vaccine eventually, but we really hope that everyone will be patient and continue to follow the recommended guidelines in the meantime.”
State guidelines limit the size of the group and encourage social distance and the use of masks when this is not possible.
Forbing-Orr said the state has no estimates from federal authorities for more than two weeks on how much vaccine the state will receive, although the picture may become clearer in January.
“We will communicate the changes as often as possible,” she said.
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She also said it was not clear how many Idaho residents would refuse to receive the vaccine, which could also change the schedule. Idaho tends to have a large number of residents concerned about vaccination.
“But we are doing our best to educate and encourage people to get the vaccine,” said Forbing-Orr.
The first round of injections started this month and is being administered to frontline health professionals and residents of long-term care facilities. State officials estimate that there are 140,000 people in the category, and that by Monday almost 12,000 of them have received their first injection of the double vaccine.
The second group, which totals about 330,000, is expected to start receiving vaccines in February.
This group is made up of essential workers and adults aged 75 and over. Experts say that older adults are more susceptible to death or serious illnesses due to COVID-19.
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Essential workers in the category include firefighters, police, teachers, prison staff, members of the Idaho National Guard, food processing workers and workers in supermarkets and convenience stores.
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The second group also includes essential workers who cannot telecommute or distance themselves from other people at work. The Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee is still working on definitions of essential workers in this category and will make recommendations to Republican Governor Brad Little.
The third group, about 500,000, is due to start vaccination in April. This group is made up of people aged 65 and over and people aged between 16 and 64 who have health problems that put them at greater risk of contracting the virus.
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Essential workers in this group are defined as workers not included in the previous groups.
The final group, 800,000, is simply defined as the general public. Vaccinations for this group are expected to start in May.
State officials say about 137,000 residents have been infected with the virus and almost 1,400 have died.
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