Joyce Esckilsen learned of the vaccine’s arrival in Cavalier County for the first time through a medical office worker. Later that day, a friend called her to talk about it. Then, another friend called to share the exciting development.
The news spreads fast “wwhen you live in the branches “, joked Esckilsen.
Within hours, the 85-year-old woman and her husband signed up to receive the vaccine, and on January 14, they received their first doses at the county public health office in Langdon. The online registration process, despite some technical difficulties, took no more than 40 minutes, said Esckilsen.
“It was no problem,” said Esckilsen. “They did a fantastic job.”
Esckilsen and about 750 others in the rural northeast county gave their first chance – a total of 20% of the population.
But in North Dakota, the spread of Cavalier County vaccination is not an aberration. The state leads the country in launching efficient vaccines, with almost 93% of its allocated doses already injected into the arms of residents, according to the health department. Despite having received proportionally fewer doses than a handful of other states, North Dakota ranks third in doses administered per capita, behind only Alaska and West Virginia and several steps ahead of Minnesota and South Dakota. , about 11.5% of the North Dakota population received their first injection, compared to a national rate of around 8.8%.
COVID-19 vaccines are prepared for use at the Gordmans old site in Fargo. David Samson / The Forum
In other parts of the country, dozens of dose reports emerged that were missed because providers were unable to distribute them on time under strict eligibility guidelines, but good planning, deep ties with the community and some inherent advantages represented the victory for the Peace Garden State.
There is a long way to go on the road to collective immunity from COVID-19, but North Dakota is certainly on the right path, said state vaccination coordinator Molly Howell.
No single factor can explain the successful vaccine implantation in North Dakota, but the authorities began to plant the seeds of success long before the drug was approved by the federal government.
Howell and his team brought together pharmacists, medical professionals, nursing home administrators and tribal officials in late summer to develop a plan to distribute the vaccine as soon as it was launched. Partnerships forged through these meetings and other pandemic interactions have established the lines of communication used in practice, Howell said.
The group’s goal was to solve problems before they arose, devising strategies for hypothetical scenarios. The brainstorming sessions led the state to plan a central warehouse in Bismarck, where huge batches of doses could be divided and sent to small towns that required only a few doses.
“We have such limited quantities of vaccine that being able to break it and put it in rural areas was crucial,” said Howell. “Otherwise, we would have to wait for people to travel long distances to be vaccinated.”
The state also purchased several frozen deep freezers and transport refrigerators to store the Pfizer vaccine in the warehouse. That prediction results in an extra day for the vaccine to be distributed, which can make a big difference, Howell said.
In contrast to some states that limited the distribution of the vaccine, North Dakota decided to enroll any pharmacy, local health facility, hospital or clinic that wished to administer the vaccine. About 400 vaccine suppliers have already signed a contract with the state.
In smaller communities, independent pharmacies played a significant role in reaching nursing home residents, which helped North Dakota finish vaccinating this priority group faster than most other states, Howell said.
The general ideas developed during the planning period matched well with the small details executed locally.
Cavalier County Health District Administrator Steph Welsh said the rural, united nature of her area has been a great asset, with the entire county coming together to spread the word about the vaccine. Local businesses put pamphlets in their windows with the web link for vaccine registration, pharmacies and supermarkets added paper brochures to the food and medicine bags and the city newspaper distributed the message to readers, Welsh said. The clergy helped congregants with less technology experience to register online.
“This is the beauty of living in a small, rural place – everyone takes care of each other and wants to help,” said Welsh.
A farmer plants wheat in a field adjacent to the ABM facility in Nekoma, ND Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
In urban areas, there were other keys to the logistical triumphs of vaccine distribution.
Bismarck-Burleigh’s Director of Public Health, Renae Moch, said that most injections administered by her agency are administered through a drive-thru at the Bismarck Event Center. Health officials developed the drive-thru process months ago to take the COVID-19 test, but the same idea lent itself to vaccination, especially with the mobility problems of many older residents who are eligible for the jab.
The agency also recruited contact trackers from the state to help register residents for telephone consultations.
Welsh and Moch said the most persistent problem so far has been a lack of doses. Demand far exceeds the supply they receive from the federal government, and both officials said their agencies could easily scale up operations if more doses were available.
“People want the vaccine. They are eager to get it,” said Moch. “We had people so gracious that they passed our vaccine clinics who cried because they are finally getting the vaccine and have not seen their family or gone anywhere for almost a year.”
Warren Larson was one of thousands who went to a drive-through clinic in Bismarck to get their first injection. The 71-year-old cancer survivor said that getting the vaccine gave him peace of mind, although he notes that it will not decrease mask use or social detachment anytime soon.
Larson said he always believed in vaccines because, since he was a child, he had friends who suffered from polio, which has already been eradicated in the United States. He signed up as quickly as he could for the COVID-19 photo and said he was impressed with the ease and efficiency of the process.
Esckilsen is also playing a long game with the virus and said he will not stop wearing the mask. But the result of collective immunity is clear to her. Once the pandemic is over, she will have “three new great-grandchildren” in Georgia and Colorado to meet.