Idaho won’t receive as many COVID-19 vaccines as expected next week; positivity rate drops
Idaho will not receive as many doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine next week as it originally expected, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Idaho’s allotment for next week was reduced from 17,550 to 9,750 doses.
“We don’t know why it was reduced. But our focus doesn’t change — health care workers will continue to receive the vaccine,” IDHW said in a Twitter post.
The Gem State’s first shipment of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech arrived Monday, and Health and Welfare expected to receive most of the initial 13,650-dose allotment.
Idaho isn’t the only state reporting a reduced second shipment, according to reports from The Washington Post and other news outlets. Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington were among the other states receiving fewer vaccines.
Pfizer released a statement about the confusion Thursday.
“Pfizer is not having any production issues with our COVID-19 vaccine, and no shipments containing the vaccine are on hold or delayed,” the statement reads. “This week, we successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses that we were asked to ship by the U.S. Government to the locations specified by them. We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses.”
Idaho has earmarked the first shipment of vaccines for “health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.”
According to a report from McClatchy’s DC bureau, the Pentagon system set up for states to keep track of coronavirus vaccines — called Tiberius — had “outdated, inaccurate projections for deliveries that misled governors into expecting they would receive far more doses.”
The system went live several months ago to allow officials to practice using the system in anticipation of the day the Food and Drug Administration authorized a vaccine. The system included projections of vaccine doses for each state.
“But when the FDA issued its first emergency use authorization for a vaccine on Friday, the outdated projections in the Defense Department software remained in place,” according to McClatchy’s story.
Meanwhile, the system state officials use to order more doses of the vaccine — called VTrckS, which is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — showed the actual doses states were scheduled to receive were much lower.
“Going forward, the Tiberius numbers should be correct. The problem is, when they looked at them last week, and when they got to ordering them now, they were different,” a federal official told McClatchy on condition of anonymity. “Everything in Tiberius was for planning purposes, not official allocations — and they clearly did not make that clear to states.”
Idaho’s positivity rate drops
Idaho’s COVID-19 test positivity rate fell for the second time in the last three weeks.
After reporting an all-time high of 19.9% for Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, the rate decreased to 16.5% on 33,212 tests for Dec. 6-12, according to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Wefare.
Health officials say a rate below 5% shows control over the spread of the virus. Idaho was last below 5% in mid-June.
Six of the state’s seven public health districts saw a decrease in their positivity rate. South Central Public Health District, located in Twin Falls, had the lowest rate at 12.2%. Boise-based Central District Health had the third-lowest rate at 14.3%, down from 18.6% the week before. Panhandle Health District had the only increase and highest rate at 24.1%.
Idaho’s health districts reported a combined 1,139 new confirmed cases and 281 new probable cases Thursday for a total of 1,420 new cases. The state’s seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases has dropped for seven consecutive days. The average sits at 1,270.9 cases per day, down from a high of 1,650.3 on Dec. 10 — a decrease of about 23%.
There were 21 new coronavirus-related deaths added to the state’s total on Thursday. Deaths were reported in Ada (6 new, 308 total), Bingham (3 new, 38 total), Bonneville (2 new, 100 total), Boundary (1 new, 6 total), Canyon (3 new, 195 total), Caribou (1 new, 11 total), Gem (1 new, 16 total), Gooding (2 new, 16 total), Minidoka (1 new, 22 total) and Twin Falls (1 new, 110 total) counties.
Health and Welfare removed one death from Southeastern Idaho Public Health’s total in Caribou County after it was determined that a death originally reported in November was not related to COVID-19.
Idaho has lost 1,268 residents to the virus since the start of the pandemic with a case fatality rate of about 1%.
Ada County saw an increase of 429 new confirmed cases Thursday for a total of 28,872 cases. Central District Health told the Idaho Statesman earlier this week that it has been inundated with so many cases that it’s nearly two weeks behind in its data tracking. Ada County’s daily total is a combination of recently reported priority cases and older, backlogged cases — leaving it unclear what Ada’s current caseload is.
The other counties adding new confirmed cases were: Adams (8 new, 134 total), Bannock (21 new, 3,493 total), Bear Lake (1 new, 178 total), Benewah (6 new, 313 total), Bingham (12 new, 2,158 total), Blaine (12 new, 1,396 total), Boise (6 new, 164 total), Bonner (27 new, 1,317 total), Bonneville (47 new, 7,148 total), Boundary (2 new, 218 total), Canyon (198 new, 16,723 total), Cassia (8 new, 2,170 total), Clearwater (4 new, 595 total), Custer (1 new, 156 total), Elmore (10 new, 874 total), Franklin (15 new, 658 total), Fremont (5 new, 755 total), Gem (12 new, 1,022 total), Gooding (5 new, 811 total), Idaho (7 new, 775 total), Jefferson (10 new, 1,458 total), Jerome (7 new, 1,720 total), Kootenai (123 new, 9,710 total), Latah (10 new, 1,921 total), Lincoln (4 new, 332 total), Madison (24 new, 4,470 total), Minidoka (2 new, 1,687 total), Nez Perce (42 new, 2,599 total), Owyhee (9 new, 746 total), Payette (20 new, 1,593 total), Power (1 new, 411 total), Shoshone (5 new, 674 total), Teton (1 new, 452 total), Twin Falls (31 new, 6,117 total), Valley (8 new, 287 total), Washington (6 new, 712 total).
Idaho has seen 106,089 confirmed cases overall, plus 20,980 probable cases. Health and Welfare estimates that 49,318 of those cases have recovered.
New Crush the Curve COVID-19 testing site to open in Emmett
Crush the Curve Idaho will open a third coronavirus testing site Saturday, the first outside Ada County.
The latest free testing location will be in Emmett, as the testing will take place at 400 South Pine St., according to a news release from Crush the Curve. People who have COVID-19 symptoms or were recently exposed to someone confirmed to have the virus are eligible for testing.
In addition to the new Emmett location, Crush the Curve also offers free COVID-19 testing at the Boise Airport economy lot, located at 5600 West Victory Road, and in Meridian, located at 2775 West Navigator Drive.
Coronavirus tests through Crush the Curve are free whether or not you have insurance, according to the group. Test results are delivered via email and typically are available 24-36 hours after the test arrives at the lab.
If you have insurance, the lab processing will be billed to your insurer. Co-pays are waived through the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act. For those who do not have insurance, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act covers the cost of testing completely.
To see if you qualify for a test, go to www.crushthecurveidaho.com for more information.
Daily Details
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 321, according to Health and Welfare.
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 5,021 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 918 admissions to the ICU and 6,110 health care workers infected. Hospital and health care numbers are based on cases with completed investigations into contacts, not the full number of positives.
St. Luke’s Health System: As of Dec. 16, the health system was reporting 116 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 377 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 14%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Dec. 16, the health system was reporting 93 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 293 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 25.1%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Dec. 15: Adams Elementary (1), District Services (1), Frank Church High School (1), Hawthorne Elementary (1), Liberty Elementary (1), Whitney Elementary (1), Whittier Elementary (1).
West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for Dec. 3-16: Centennial High (13), Central Academy (1), Eagle Academy (2), Eagle High (14), Idaho Fine Arts (1), Meridian High (21), Mountain View High (17), Renaissance High (6), Rocky Mountain High (26), Crossroads Middle (1), Eagle Middle (5), Heritage Middle (6), Lake Hazel Middle (5), Lewis and Clark Middle (6), Lowell Scott Middle (4), Meridian Middle (3), Pathways Middle (2), Sawtooth Middle (11), Star Middle (2), Victory Middle (3), Barbara Morgan STEM (6), Chaparral Elementary (1), Chief Joseph School of the Arts (2), Christine Donnell (7), Discovery Elementary (3), Eagle Hills Elementary (6), Eliza Hart Spalding STEM (1), Frontier Elementary (1), Galileo STEM Academy (1), Hunter Elementary (2), Joplin Elementary (1), Lake Hazel Elementary (1), Mary McPherson (2), Meridian Elementary (4), Paramount Elementary (2), Peregrine Elementary (2), Pioneer School of the Arts (1), Pleasant View Elementary (1), Ponderosa Elementary (2), Prospect Elementary (2), River Valley Elementary (3), Siena Elementary (3), Silver Sage Elementary (1), Star Elementary (3), Summerwind STEM Academy (1), Ustick Elementary (1), Willow Creek Elementary (3).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Thursday, Health and Welfare reported that 519,125 people had been tested statewide. About 20.4% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 28,872, Adams 134, Bannock 3,493, Bear Lake 178, Benewah 313, Bingham 2,158, Blaine 1,396, Boise 164, Bonner 1,317, Bonneville 7,148, Boundary 218, Butte 121, Camas 42, Canyon 16,723, Caribou 271, Cassia 2,170, Clark 44, Clearwater 595, Custer 156, Elmore 874, Franklin 658, Fremont 755, Gem 1,022, Gooding 811, Idaho 775, Jefferson 1,458, Jerome 1,720, Kootenai 9,710, Latah 1,921, Lemhi 384, Lewis 241, Lincoln 332, Madison 4,470, Minidoka 1,687, Nez Perce 2,599, Oneida 167, Owyhee 746, Payette 1,593, Power 411, Shoshone 674, Teton 452, Twin Falls 6,117, Valley 287, Washington 712.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 4:25 PM.