How do hospitals and the county decide who gets vaccinated?

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Each Friday, the Shawnee Mission Post will publish answers to questions we have received from readers about the vaccination process in Johnson County.

This week’s FAQ focuses on questions from readers who want more information on how county and local health systems prioritize who needs immunization and why vaccine availability remains so limited.

Why does the county only vaccinate people 80 and over?

• In level 1 of phase 2 of the county rollout plan, people 65 years of age and older can get vaccinated.
• But the reason the county-run clinics focus on people aged 80 and over is because these clinics are meant to target those most at risk of serious illness if they contract COVID-19, said the director of epidemiology Elizabeth Holzschuch.
• The county made an effort last week to try to reach all people 80 and over who responded to the county’s interest survey, and health officials say they hope to move on to vaccination people aged 65 to 79. in the next weeks.

But hospitals are vaccinate people 65 years and over. Why?

• Short answer: because the county told them to do it.
• As the county clinic focuses on people aged 80 and over, the county has encouraged hospitals to start distributing vaccines to their own patients aged 65 and over to reach more people faster.
• Since then, hospitals have mainly focused on vaccinating their own patients aged 65 and over, while the county has focused on the 80 and over group.

How do hospitals prioritize vaccines?

• It probably varies, and we haven’t heard from every hospital system what their internal process is for filling immunization windows in their clinics.
• AdventHealth and University of Kansas Health System both say they invite eligible people from their patient lists using random name pools and not prioritizing certain individuals or groups.
• The criteria for determining who qualifies as a patient may also differ from hospital to hospital. KU, for example, considers anyone who has received treatment there in the past three years to be on its patient list.
• If you suspect that you are a patient or have recently been treated in a hospital, you should check with this provider to see if you qualify for a vaccine there.

So if I’m over 65 but not a patient in a big hospital am I out of luck right now?

• Not entirely, but it may be more difficult for you to find a vaccination window right now.
• Some non-patients have been able to secure hospital appointments by filling out hospital vaccine interest forms online that are open to the general public. To learn more about how each major Johnson County hospital system registers people’s interest, click here.
• There are also now a very limited number of doses available to people 65 and over at some Johnson County retail pharmacies. These locations also fill up quickly.
• Also, be sure to complete the County Vaccine Interest Survey (this is separate from the hospital interest forms). This will put your name on the county rolls when they finally get to the 65-79 age group.
• In general, health officials advise residents 65 years of age and over to sign up to receive the vaccine by as many means as possible. This will increase your chances of being offered an appointment for a vaccine somewhere.

What if I’m under 65 but have a serious underlying medical condition. Do I still have to wait?

• Right now, the answer is unfortunately: yes.
• Age, as part of Kansas’ phased vaccine distribution plan, is the primary factor in determining who gets vaccinated now. It’s out of county control.
• Kansas County Health Departments are allowed to divide the state’s phases into priority groups – as they did at Level 1 of Phase 2, choosing to inoculate educators and first responders, in addition of those 65 and over – but the county can’t move forward. to future phases that include young people, until the state does.
• People under 65 with serious underlying health conditions, including cancer, chronic kidney disease, sickle cell anemia, and heart problems, are part of the phase 3 deployment of the condition, as are women. pregnant. A full description of the progressive vaccine rollout in the state can be found here.

Do hospitals receive their own vaccines separately from county allocation?

• No, there is no separate dose stream for Johnson County hospitals. All doses currently pass through the county health department.
• Johnson County received between 5,800 and 7,000 first doses per week in the state. And those doses are split between the county clinic and local health systems.
• The number of doses each health care system receives changes every week depending on a number of factors. For example, last week approximately 1,900 doses were allocated to residents and staff of unauthorized elderly communities. It was therefore 1,900 doses that did not reach hospitals.

Do we know how many doses have been administered so far in Johnson County?

• The county says by the end of Friday, more than 50,000 Johnson County residents will have received at least their first dose, including about 40 percent of educators and school staff.
• Doses administered by local health systems are included in this county-wide total.
• AdventHealth receives up to 2,000 doses per week, according to a spokesperson, and has now immunized approximately 10,000 people, including employees.
• Olathe Medical Center said Thursday it had vaccinated around 4,000 patients 65 and older and planned to vaccinate another 2,000 by the end of next week.

When do other doses arrive?

• Soon I hope. Promising developments suggest that vaccine supplies could resume in the coming weeks.
• The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said this week that the federal government plans to double the number of doses Kansas receives each week.
• Governor Laura Kelly has said she wants to use some of those extra doses to coordinate the immunization of more K-12 educators across the state so schools can reopen sooner.
• In addition, the number of doses administered at local retail pharmacies is also expected to increase in the coming weeks.

Will the recent winter weather affect vaccine distribution?

• It’s possible.
• The problem won’t be next week’s forecast – it should be much warmer – but shipping delays this week have left many Kansas communities without the doses they need for clinics next week, said Kristi Zears, KDHE Communications Director.
• Johnson County said on Thursday it did not receive his doses for clinics next week. This has made planning difficult as the county is reluctant to open appointments for vaccines it does not yet have.