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Photo by Liz Copan / Studio Copan
Second home owners who spend a lot of time in Summit County will be able to be vaccinated locally starting next week.
At a Summit County Board of Health meeting on Thursday, Jan.7, Public Health Director Amy Wineland said the state’s award process for the new coronavirus vaccine changed this week. to allow part-time residents to be vaccinated.
The State is still in phase 1B on its vaccination distribution plan, which means that only people 70 and over – as well as those who are health workers or first responders – are eligible for vaccination.
Until now, the county’s vaccine dose allocation has been based on 2018 census data, Wineland said. For this reason, the county wanted to prioritize vaccinations for permanent residents.
Now, the state is not holding the county to this census allowance. The county is therefore able to immunize people who live in Summit County but do not have a permanent address there.
“We can now offer the vaccine to over 70s for our permanent residents and part-time residents, including second home owners who are here for more than 30 days and can ensure they will be here for another 30 days. for that. second dose, ”said Wineland.
Wineland said the county is still in the process of developing final documentation as to who qualifies for the vaccine. However, the goal will be to focus on the people who spend a lot of time in Summit County.
“We’re really looking at who owns a second home here, who can verify that they’ll be here for 60 days and that they’re not here on vacation,” she said. “He’s someone who is part of our community.”
County director Scott Vargo said the goal was to avoid “vaccine tourism”.
“What we’re trying to do is minimize vaccine tourism, where we have people flying or driving, whatever it is, just to take advantage of a wonderful system of. vaccination that the (county) teams have put in place here. in Summit County, ”he said.
With the rapid distribution of the vaccine in the county, Wineland said the state will suspend its vaccine allocation once the entire population aged 70 and over is vaccinated. This means essential workers likely won’t be able to receive the vaccine until March, Wineland said Thursday.
“We will continue to get vaccinated until this population (aged 70 and over) is vaccinated,” Wineland said. “If we feel comfortable and confident that we put everyone in those first three levels, we’re going to be put on hold until the rest of the state gets to that point.”
In the meantime, the county continues to vaccinate as many people as possible. Brian Bovaird, director of emergency management, said the county was able to administer around 365 vaccines at Thursday’s drive-through clinic in Frisco. Most of the patients who attended the clinic were from the 70-plus population, he said.
Wineland said the county was on track to administer the 800 doses it received at the start of the week before the end of the day on Sunday January 10. Next week, the county expects to receive 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, she said.
Earlier this week, the county will announce when other appointments will be available.
At the meeting, Summit County Commissioners Elisabeth Lawrence and Thomas Davidson stressed the importance for people of continuing to practice social distancing and wearing masks while waiting for their second dose of vaccine.
“I know the efficiency is very high, but that doesn’t make the elderly bulletproof,” Davidson said. “We really have to point out to these people that that doesn’t mean that now you can go out and do anything.”
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