Photo of Liz Copan / Studio Copan
Second homeowners who spend significant time in Summit County will be eligible to be vaccinated locally starting next week.
At a Summit County Health Council meeting on Thursday, January 7, Director of Public Health Amy Wineland said the state’s allocation process for the new coronavirus vaccine changed this week to allow residents part-time are vaccinated.
The state is still in Phase 1B in their vaccination distribution plan, which means that only people aged 70 and over – as well as those who are health professionals or first responders – can be vaccinated.
So far, county vaccine dose allocation has been based on 2018 census data, Wineland said. For this reason, the municipality wanted to prioritize the vaccination of permanent residents.
Now, the state is not restricting the county to this census allocation. Therefore, the county can vaccinate people who live in Summit County, but do not have their permanent address there.
“We can now offer the vaccine to more than 70 to our permanent residents and our part-time residents, including owners of second homes who have been here for more than 30 days and we can guarantee that they will be here for another 30 days. second dose, ”said Wineland.
Wineland said the county is still in the process of developing definitive documentation for anyone who qualifies for the vaccine. However, the goal will be to focus on people who spend significant time in Summit County.
“We are really looking for who owns a second home here, who can verify that they will be here for 60 days, and that they are not on vacation,” she said. “It is someone who is part of our community.”
County manager Scott Vargo said the goal is to avoid “vaccine tourism”.
“What we’re trying to do is minimize vaccine tourism, where we have people who are arriving or driving, whatever it is, just to take advantage of a wonderful vaccine system that the (county) teams have set up here at Summit County, ”he said.
With the rapid distribution of the vaccine across the county, Wineland said the state will stop distributing the vaccine once the entire population over 70 is vaccinated. That means essential workers are unlikely to be able to get the vaccine until March, Wineland said on Thursday.
“We will continue to receive the vaccine until this population (aged 70 or older) is vaccinated,” said Wineland. “If we feel comfortable and confident that we put everyone on these three main levels, we will be put on hold until the rest of the state reaches that point.”
However, the county continues to vaccinate as many people as possible. Brian Bovaird, director of emergency management, said the county was able to administer about 365 vaccines at Thursday’s drive-thru clinic in Frisco. Most of the patients who attended the clinic were from the age of 70 or older, he said.
Wineland said the county is on track to administer all 800 doses it received earlier in the week by the end of Sunday, January 10. Next week, the county expects to receive 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, she said.
Earlier in the week, the county will announce when more hours will be available.
At the meeting, Summit County Commissioners, Elisabeth Lawrence and Thomas Davidson, emphasized the importance of people continuing to practice social detachment and wearing masks while waiting for the second dose of the vaccine.
“I know the effectiveness is very high, but it does not make the elderly bulletproof,” said Davidson. “We really need to emphasize to these people that it doesn’t mean that you can now go out and do whatever it is.”