Idaho works on ‘fluid’ COVID-19 vaccination plans, expects 20,000 doses a week

With more than 118,000 confirmed coronavirus infections statewide, and the death toll growing daily, Idaho officials on Tuesday provided an update on the effort to vaccinate Idahoans.

As of Tuesday morning, Idaho reported having administered 20,843 does of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Health and Welfare.

That afternoon, Health and Welfare hosted a virtual media briefing with statements from Gov. Brad Little, Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen and IDHW Public Health Administrator Elke Shaw-Tulloch, among others.

Under the current timeline, Idaho is first vaccinating health care workers and long-term care facility staff and residents. Shaw-Tulloch said that as of Tuesday, Idaho has received 83,475 doses. Of those, 67,875 were for first doses and 13,650 were for the second shot. She said the state expects to receive 20,000 doses every week.

Health and Welfare will start a new data set on its website this week, tracking the number of people in each county who have been vaccinated and whether those people have received both doses.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn also answered questions during the conference, including one about achieving herd immunity.

Hahn explained that she does not expect Idaho to reach 100%, and a month ago she would have said the state needed about 60-70% for herd immunity. Now, she said, the figure is more like 80-85%. Hahn noted that the number is fluid as they learn more about the new virus.

“The arrival of this effective and safe vaccine is a real turning point,” Jeppesen said. “It’s actually a modern science miracle, frankly.”

But Jeppesen stressed that the need to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing is vital to stopping the spread of the virus.

The Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee will meet again Friday to offer recommendations for the governor about who to include in which priority groups when it comes to the vaccination timeline. Nearly all of the officials described that process as “fluid,” including whether adults 65 and older might be added to a group that currently targets those 75 and older.

Tentatively, in February, the next vaccination phase will focus on first responders such as fire and police, the Idaho National Guard, those people 75 and older, grocery store workers, corrections staff, and teachers of pre-K-12th grade.

On Monday, the state reported 118,601 confirmed infections since the virus reached Idaho, and 1,462 Idahoans had died of COVID-19-related causes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17,020,575 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed and 4.8 million people had received a first dose as of Tuesday morning.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, Little said during an AARP town hall call that Idaho’s hospitalization numbers have improved in recent days, saying the state’s hospital capacity issues are “not as urgent as it was 8-10 days ago.”

“Our numbers, both incident rate and hospitalizations, are getting better,” Little said on the phone call.

Jeppesen said during the call that the number of new COVID-19 cases in Idaho is declining, as well as the state’s testing positivity rate. Jeppesen said that rate is still around 13%, which is too high, but an improvement from the 20% positivity rate in recent weeks.

This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 4:01 PM.