Task Force looks toward upcoming COVID-19 vaccinations
On Monday, November 30, the Pine Island COVID-19 Task Force opened its meeting with discussion regarding contact tracing in Florida. Member Sue Dahod said she’d contacted the Department of Health to ask about becoming a volunteer contact tracer back in May. She was told the only position open was in Fort Lauderdale.
Former WINK-TV News anchor Jim McLaughlin reported having gone to the Community Cooperative food drive to hand out close to 200 CDC bi-lingual Covid-19 flyers.
“Everyone in the cars that I went up to were either wearing masks or they put one on when I approached the vehicle,” McLaughlin said. “Everybody willingly took the flyers and by the time I got back to the food distribution point, people who saw me with the flyers, who did not get one in line, asked me for them. I probably counted roughly half a dozen people among 220 clients they gave food to who did not have masks on. Everybody was very cooperative and eager to put their mask on as soon as they saw somebody approach the vehicle.”
Task Force member Martha Huard noted several restaurants around the island having more people than usual, which, she said, is surprising.
Regarding upcoming vaccinations, Dahod said, to her knowledge, the first priority is supposed to be nursing homes and assisted living centers, and the second, frontline healthcare workers.
“Each state has a very limited supply of the number of vaccines,” said Dahod.
Member Ellen Ballard said it was her understanding that Florida was to get 1.3 million vaccines, which she notes will be scarcely enough.
Fellow Task Force member Dr. Daniel Hanley said, according to Lee Health, there will be three phases regarding vaccinations.
“The first phase is where only healthcare workers in hospitals get the vaccine. The second phase is where we think about people most at risk, such as nursing home and long-term care patients. The third phase is for the general public,” said Hanley. “So, for you and me — for all practical purposes, there will be no vaccine in the immediate future, so we still need to exercise our basic common sense, such as masks, distancing…what we are doing now. I’m hoping we can get the vaccine in the general public’s hands in the later spring.”
He said April or May is an optimistic ballpark guess, although he cannot be certain. The vaccine for COVID-19, he said, is not like the flu vaccine and will require several doses, with weeks apart between each one. He also says he believes in the coming vaccines and that in his opinion they could be a game changer for everyone.
Hanley said he is involved in a state vaccine program designed for the Medicaid population that will provide doctors with free vaccines for children with the stipulation that the community is receiving the vaccine.
“That existing infrastructure is in place right now,” said Hanley. “Anybody that is a provider enrolled in a VFC program will be able to become a COVID-19 vaccine provider. I have to first be enrolled in the state of Florida — I’m working on that and then I will be a COVID-19 vaccine provider.”