HomeMy WebLinkAbout01112021_Roye_COVIDFrom:krillroye
To:Board of Health
Subject:Vaccine Distribution
Date:Saturday, January 9, 2021 10:41:27 AM
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Greetings,
It is with great interest that I read Nick Wietmeyer's piece in the Port Townsend Leader dated1/7 titled “Vaccination plan is a successful call to arms”. However the piece raises some
essential questions that cast some doubt about how successful that effort has in fact been. Ibelieve it important for the Board of Health to follow-up.
The fact that only 60% of the “1A” group of 1,400 has been vaccinated so far can not really becalled a resounding success. This group is a well defined, almost captive group that shouldhave been able to have been vaccinated very readily. It is not a good predicate for the nextgroup, “1B” , which is likely to be more than 10,000 which by the State standards publishedtoday are to be competed within the month of January. A vastly better effort will be requiredto meet that goal, and that does not seem to be well prepared for, especially as only threeweeks remain in which to accomplish that task.
The paragraph in which he reported that Jefferson Health Care received a second shipment of
vaccine December 22nd, but did not know exactly what to do with is is very distressing.. Thisis inexcusable at this stage of this deadly pandemic, and must be examined more fully. If theyweren't sure what to do with it, they should have simply found eligible recipients anticipatedin the next group and vaccinated them like a Southern California hospital did last week whentheir cryogenic freezer failed. Later reports put the actual number of vaccinations evenhigher---800.
See: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-04/freezer-broken-california-
town-had-to-use-or-lose-vaccine-shots ;
The statement that they are not pushing to receive more vaccine until they are given the nod tobroaden the recipient criteria is equally disturbing. It is essential to be proactive rather thanreactive, as time is the enemy, both in terms of people's health and the local economy.Yesterday the state declared exactly what that broader recipient criteria is to be---all those over70 years of age and certain critical workers over age 50. In Jefferson county that is about10,000 people. 37.9% of Jefferson county's population is age 65 or older---the highest suchpercentage in the state.. Within Port Townsend itself it is much higher. Jefferson Health Care,according to the article, “anticipating that (next phase) being individuals over the age of 75“and essential workers has already proven to have been wrong. If the entire 10 months of thispandemic has taught us anything at all, it is that we must not simply wait for the situation toclarify, or for instructions from elsewhere. That has been the history of our national effort allalong. We must anticipate our needs, and be ready to meet them in advance.
The notion by the hospital that it “wouldn't be fair for us to see that second shipment” isabsurd. In order to manage to vaccinate more than 10 times what has already beenaccomplished, in little more time than has already been consumed to do the first group, it will
clearly require that no time whatever be lost waiting for the next shipment.. To be “awaitingword” for what the next step will be is exceptionally poor management in time of a pandemic.
This will only forestall the implementation of the next phase, putting it dangerously behindschedule. As of yesterday, according to the WA Department f Health, that next phase, “1B”, is
supposed to be underway right now and competed by the end of January.See: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/Articles/ID/2555/COVID-19-vaccine-distribution-
update-from-the-Washington-State-Department-of-Health
This is not an ordinary business “just-in-time-inventory” situation. Nor is it an order fromAmazon for some new dinner ware. This is a deadly pandemic affecting a disproportionatelyhigh percentage of the population of Port Townsend. To sit around waiting for instructions is adereliction of duty of care of the medical community. There is an old expression that myfather taught me he learned in combat in Europe in WWII: “In a crisis, look for a leader. Ifyou can't find a leader, become one.” The local officials must lead, not sit content to wait..
Mark RoyePort Townsend360-390-8311