Thousands of healthcare workers and emergency medical responders have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in West Michigan over the last few weeks. But, health officials say there are challenges that have made the roll out a bit slower than anticipated.
"There are so many logistics and challenges to this," said Dr. Nirali Bora, medical director for the Kent County Health Department.
The largest vaccination undertaking in the nation's history also includes many unknowns, including how much of the vaccine is coming and when. Local health departments are balancing those adjustments with set guidelines provided by the state about who should be receiving the vaccine first.
"While, you know, managing a vaccine that is stored at minus 70 degrees, during a pandemic, so there are a lot of different factors that make it not as simple as like a flu clinic in a normal year," said Dr. Bora.
Kent County sites have received 27,250 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and 8,350 first doses have been administered as of Tuesday. The county is administering at a higher rate than much of the state, according to the state's dashboard.
The majority of the initial shipments from the state have gone to health systems.
Spectrum Health, the largest health system in West Michigan, says it has received 34,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and as of Jan. 4, the health system had vaccinated more than 11,000 team members and other community caregivers in the first priority category.
All employees in the first priority category should be able to receive the vaccine by Jan. 8, Spectrum Health says.
Emergency medical service providers, including medical first responders along with health care workers on the medical floor, emergency department or intensive care units were in the first priority group.
Health departments are largely responsible for administering vaccines to first responders, but Bora says there were less people in the early categories than expected.
"We found that there was actually lower uptake from that very first priority group than we'd anticipated, so we had many open appointments," she said Thursday. "But we are seeing so much interest from the second and third priority groups that we know...the minute we open up to those priorities our appointments will be filled."
Bora said Kent County is hoping to move on to Phase 1A Priority Three, which includes other necessary healthcare infrastructure, by the end of this week.
Scheduling vaccination clinics has also been a struggle, especially around the holidays, the Ottawa County Department of Public Health said. Ottawa County sites have received 8,450 vaccines and administered 3,024 as of Tuesday.
The OCDPH says as of Monday, Jan. 4 it has administered almost all of its initial 975 doses. Public Information Officer Kristina Wieghmink said the county expects a second shipment this week with hopes of beginning Phase 1A Priority Three vaccinations by the end of the week.
"We're going to have three clinics per week and we're looking to do about 600 to 630 per day," Wieghmink said. "So we'll be reaching out to more people, and being able to hopefully move through these phases or these priority levels a little bit faster."
As questions come in from people wondering how to get signed up for the vaccine, Bora said Kent County is not collecting any information on that, yet.
"We really want to make sure that the data that we collect from people is really usable," she said. "And we know that as time goes on, different types of vaccine will come out and healthcare providers will be able to do it in their own offices, as well.
"I don't want to make people think that there is a list that they need to get on because there will be many people in the community, who have the capacity to vaccinate, and we will work as a team to get the word out when the phase opens up," she said.
Allegan County has launched a survey to collect vaccine information from those interested in receiving it. Ottawa County also launched a notification system for people living in West Michigan.
Plans and the current phases may vary county to county, so the best option is to check your local health department's website. Bora said in retrospect she wishes they would've started informing the community of the difficulties earlier.
"Letting people know that this is not going to be simple and quick and easy like a flu vaccine. I think expectations are tough," Bora said of the roll out.
But she's hopeful about the pace picking up across West Michigan in the new year.
"I think it's all going to improve and I think it will improve quickly," Bora said. "I think we'll see increased uptake as we get a better sense for how much vaccine is coming...I think all of these pieces will start running much more smoothly."
West Michigan health departments, health systems and other partners created vaccinatewestmi.com to help keep people informed on the vaccine. Sign up to receive updates at the bottom of the homepage.
This story was updated with additional information from the Ottawa County Department of Public Health and Spectrum Health on January 4.
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