The numbers are looking encouraging on multiple fronts for the Berrien County Health Department. As case counts continue to decline, vaccination rates continue to climb, but with 20,000 people already on the wait list, everyone clamoring for the COVID-19 vaccine are increasingly being asked to have patience.
Berrien County Health Department Chief Health Officer Nicki Britten provided a weekly update late this morning looking at both sides of the equation. First off, regarding the virus, she reports, “It’s continuing to look really encouraging. We are seeing a stable rate of cases.” By way of explanation she says, “Two or three weeks ago we were seeing a little bit of an incline — and those inclines always make you wonder what’s coming next — but fortunately it just came right back down and so it seems like it’s just another bit of variation, which is expected, as we’re monitoring this infectious disease.”
Britten reports that right now Berrien County is experiencing around 40 cases per day on average, causing her to say, “That is a good place for us to be right now. As the numbers go down we continue to be grateful for that, and hope to really maintain where we’re at. Our percent positivity has dipped down to about 7-percent which is fantastic, and we’re encouraged by that continuing decline. Our testing levels remain very consistent, and we’re still testing so we just want to put out there that if you’re experiencing symptoms or think that you might have COVID-19, there are still plenty of testing locations and you can find a list of all the testing locations in the county on the Health Department’s website, and in some cases you do not require a doctor’s order for the test, and can just go, so check that out if you’re feeling under the weather and feel you might need a COVID test.”
Britten also reports things are improving in the healthcare realm where concerns are always about capacity limitations. She reports today, “Things are looking pretty good, and one of the most encouraging signs as we all know – one of our main goals in response – is that we don’t want to overwhelm the health system, and we want to make sure we have enough health care resources in our community to care for everyone, whether you have COVID, or are experiencing a heart attack, or some other chronic condition…whatever your health care needs are we want to make sure our health system is able to do that.” She goes on to report, “Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are also really declining, we’ve seen more of a decline in the last 10-days than we had seen before those numbers had been flattening, so we’re really, really encouraged. This good news in the data definitely can be attributed to the actions of our community and continuing to be diligent in our social distancing, in wearing a mask, washing our hands, and I’m sure you’re all sick of hearing me say these same things, but they do work. They are tried and true methods to sustain these downward and stable trends we need to continue to be diligent.”
Turning to the rising numbers that Britten and her team are working diligently to continue to boost, she addressed the current state of vaccinations in the county. She cautions, “A lot regarding vaccinations is not within our control locally. We do know that the manufacturers of the two vaccines that are out there, Pfizer and Moderna, are working to continue to manufacture the vaccine and there is a set amount that they are able to produce each week. We’re hearing that there should be some increases in the next couple of weeks in that production, to the tune of maybe 10-to-15-percent more, so as more vaccine is available each state that gets an allocation from the federal government and that quantity grows, then they can in turn distribute larger amounts to local health departments and hospital systems so that we can have more vaccine locally.”
Britten also notes that there are a lot of things that can impact vaccine suppies, including having more providers come on line to provide the vaccine, but suggests, “That doesn’t necessarily make more vaccine available, so we really have one ‘slice of pie’ with a set amount of vaccine that could be divided in many different ways, to many different providers, and that’s why there’s a little bit of a slow on-board of primary care providers who can be ready to distribute the vaccine but they’re not distributing it yet, because they want to make sure that everybody who is providing vaccine can provide a meaningful amount.”
On the local front, Britten says, “We’re hearing that there will be more vaccine coming to us here in Berrien County to both the health department and healthcare system, at least over the next few weeks. It will probably change pretty dramatically if and when the next vaccine comes to market.” She adds, “The supply is ramping up as quickly as it can be manufactured and locally we’re committed to administering 90-percent of the doses we receive within seven days, and over the last couple of weeks we’ve been hitting that goal. Everything that is coming to us, we are getting out to people right away.”
Nevertheless, there are lots of frustrations for those on the sidelines waiting, and Britten admits, “The thing that is adding a little bit to the frustration of people who want the vaccine is that everybody has a slightly different process for what that looks like and that can be confusing.”
At any rate if you are an adult 65-years or older, and live in Berrien County, you can sign up for the wait list at the Berrien County Health Department, on MyChart through Spectrum Health Lakeland, or through the Meijer Pharmacy and soon other regional pharmacies.
While you can sign up, you also need to recognize that you are not alone, as Britten reports, “We have around 20,000 people on the wait list who have indicated ‘Yes, I would like the vaccine,’” and reminds everyone, “We have the list, we have your home phone number or email and when it’s your turn for an appointment we will reach out to you, so check your email every day.”
The process is pretty basic, as Britten notes, “As soon as we get vaccine in, we are opening up clinic appointments and moving through that wait list. We continue to target our older adults first, with some prioritization, but everyone just needs to be patient.”
The logistics are not particularly easy, as the top health officer notes, “We plan our clinics weeks out, and the last piece that comes into that plan is appointments, the number of appointments available and getting people into them. We’re committed to not having an appointment for you unless we have a vaccine for you. If you have an appointment, we have a vaccine for you. So if you receive a notification to make your appointment, you might have to move quickly and not have much time to think about it, but you need to be ready and check your email every day if you’re on our wait list.”
Looking at the numbers, Britten says, “We’re getting about 1,000 to 1,500 first doses into our health department each week, but keep in mind there are 20,000 people on that wait list. We’ve made it through about 3,000 people on that wait list and we’re hoping to make even faster progress as the weeks go on, but there’s only so much vaccine and we’d love to put every one of you at the front of that list, and even do them all in one day, to get everyone covered, we want that for you, but we need you to continue to be patient as we move through this.”
