PIERRE – The South Dakota Department of Health announced this week that starting on Monday, Jan. 18, the Department of Health and its health partners across the state will start vaccinating a prioritized population group, within Group 1D, of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan.
This first prioritized population group will be those 80 and over, as well as high-risk individuals and will be expanded to other groups within 1D as vaccines become available. The modification comes amidst the federal government’s plan to release vaccines to states to speed up vaccinations nationwide.
“Given the progress we’ve seen in groups A through C, we are confident that with an increase in vaccine allocations, we can move into a limited population of group 1D. We will begin with those 80 and over and high-risk individuals, and from this starting point, adjust accordingly as allocation permits,” Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said. “We want to reassure those who’ve already received their first dose, and those in groups A through C who are already in the queue, that their second dose will be available.”
In addition to the release of COVID-19 vaccines, Operation Warp Speed announced it is changing how it will allocate such vaccines to states. Federal officials will increase weekly allocation to states based on the size of a state’s 65+ population and take into consideration how quickly each state is administering the vaccine to the general public. Currently, South Dakota has been receiving an average of 11,000 doses a week and has administered over 47,950 doses.
“Given our strong partnerships with stakeholders, and the non-stop efforts of our healthcare systems, the Department of Health is proud to say that South Dakota remains among the top states in the country in vaccination efforts. Shots in arms, that’s our goal,” Malsam-Rysdon added.
BHS planning
As the Department of Health’s appointed vaccine distributor in Brookings County, Brookings Health System is getting ready to start vaccinating individuals in Group 1D, beginning with those 80 years of age and older and those with two or more underlying medical conditions.
“We’re in the planning stages of trying to make those things happen,” President and CEO Jason Merkley said.
About 265,000 South Dakotans are in Group 1D subgroups.
Merkley said BHS’s participation will be “a very fluid process” determined by the number of doses received. The health system learned Tuesday night of the coming start of Group 1D vaccinations.
Merkley said Brookings Health hopes to finish vaccinating group 1C today.
“Brookings Health System and Brookings County are roughly receiving an allocation of 200 to 300 doses of vaccine per week,” Merkley said.
Noting that a “significant amount” of Brookings County residents are in Group 1D, he added, “It’s a long period of time, if our allocations don’t change, to make our way through Group D.”
As of right now, Brookings County is not getting enough doses to hold a large-scale Points of Dispensing event. “Until we have allocations to support a POD, we will probably not be able to go that route,” Merkley said.
More Moderna vaccines are coming here than Pfizer, as Moderna is easier to store and handle.
He also noted that procedures to determine how eligible individuals would be notified about getting vaccinated are pending.
“There has to be some level of scheduling associated with it,” Merkley added, “otherwise we will have lines of people like you’ve seen in some other states and other places. … We want it to be as structured as possible.”
For now, there will be what he called a “targeted approach, reaching out and identifying” eligible individuals “either by age or by medical conditions.”
He said he has reached out to area clinics.
“We’re getting lots of people that are calling in, wanting to get vaccinated or get on the list. … Hold on, we will get to you. Realize that vaccine is very limited, and we’ll try to get to you as soon as we possibly can. We will put out lots of communication when it’s your turn. You’ll have the ability to call in, to get scheduled,” Merkley said.
Merkley said the percentage of those getting vaccinated in Brookings County has varied by group.
“I think we’re right around that 50, 55% uptake in the population that we’ve seen through A, B and C,” he said. There have only been reports of “very minor reactions” to the vaccine here.
Merkley asked for patience in the process.
“We are doing the absolute best we possibly can, given what we’re getting.”
