During a routine portion at the conclusion of the Carroll County Board of Supervisor’s meeting, Dean Schettler, shared details about questions he asked over the past week regarding the county’s low COVID vaccine allocation.
The distribution model currently provides some area counties with lower populations more vaccine than Carroll County.
Schettler reached out to Ken Sharp, division director for acute disease prevention, emergency response and environmental health at the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH). He reads the email response.
A review of these allocations was made in the past two weeks and showed 88 counties were receiving adequate or excessive amounts of vaccine. There were 11 receiving lower than what that census-based allocation would dictate.
The email also says that shipping and logistics is another issue with packaging in either 100 or 1,170 dose boxes. For example, if one county needs 230 doses and another 305, they would both get 300. Schettler says the IDPH’s statistics show Carroll County’s population at about six tenths of the state but receiving nearly one percent of the total allocation. Schettler says, however, that housing assessments done in 2016 and 2018 show the resident population age 65 and older is more realistically around 25 percent. That would be half or more of the total population of Sac or Calhoun County. Sharp did say if additional doses are forthcoming, Carroll County will get the benefit. At some point, we will receive more vaccine and Carroll County is discussing and planning for mass vaccination clinics. Many volunteers will be needed when that does happen and that list is being put together now. Contact details on how to volunteer are included below.
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To volunteer to assist at mass vaccination clinics when that option does become available for Carroll County, contact Carroll County Emergency Coordinator, Sara Anderson:
Phone: 712-830-7582
Email: saraanderson@carrollcountyiowa.org
