MADISON COUNTY — COVID-19 vaccinations at Madison County Health Department have quadrupled in pace recently, with a new larger location in the works and even more doses expected to arrive starting in March.
“Initially (in early January) we were given about 400 doses per week, 500 doses per week, and then last week we ramped up to 2,000 per week,” Health Department Administrator Stephenie Grimes said on Monday. “So that was about two every 10 minutes to about 12 to 14 every 10 minutes. We’ve ramped up the whole operation.”
In addition to the health department site at 206 E. 9th St., Anderson, Community Hospital Anderson is also administering a vaccine, as well as Payless Pharmacy locations, Grimes said.
The hospital is using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while the health department is using Moderna. Both require two doses with weeks in between.
According to the Indiana State Department of Health COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, as of Tuesday morning 14,247 Madison County residents have received their first dose and 4,982 have been fully vaccinated. As of Monday, the state has recorded 11,495 positive cases of COVID-19 in the county, and 299 deaths. Madison County’s population is about 130,000.
Grimes said eligibility for a vaccine in Indiana began at age 80 and older, then dropped to 70 and older, and recently fell again.
“Right now it’s still 65 and older, and I believe that will continue for another week or so, and then I think it’ll open to 60 and older, and then I’m not quite sure if from that point if it’ll remain age-based or if it will be those people who have co-morbidities. So, stay tuned for that.”
Vaccine-eligible residents can make an appointment at any of the locations online at ourshot.in.gov.
“The general public can get online and they can schedule, put in the ZIP code, and probably the health department comes up first and then Community Hospital if they have anything open, they’re listed right below us,” Grimes said. “So, if they have any openings, people can go to either place.”
Payless locations have been added recently, too, she said.
The health department offers vaccination appointments from 8 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. and 2 to 6:40 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays; 2 to 6:40 p.m. Thursdays; and 8 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Fridays.
The department had two people administering vaccinations when it started Jan. 12, at the 400- to 500-dose weekly pace, with time to spare, Grimes said.
She said she had conversations with the state about getting more vaccine, and spoke up after one discovery.
“I had called and kind of expressed my displeasure when I found there were other counties who were smaller receiving more doses than Madison County,” she said. “I was not happy about that, and I was, like, ‘If you can’t give me more doses at least give me an explanation.’ And she said, ‘Let me work on it.’
“And then she called me back a day or two later and said, ‘Can you do 2,000?’ I said, ‘Absolutely. Give it to us. We’ll make it work.’
“Now, I don’t know that we got 2,000 simply because of my call — that was at a point when lots of counties got more. … But I like to think I had something to do with it.”
Feb. 2 was the start of the new pace.
The department now has five vaccinators, three people in registration, three scheduling second doses and a person monitoring people for 15 minutes after getting the shot — “just to ensure if there is some sort of reaction they have medical attention immediately.”
Grimes is a 13th member of that team. She said her role to direct traffic and people as they move about.
Cramped quarters is a big part of the reason for an impending change of location, she said. A deal for the new site is expected to be announced by the end of this week, so the move can take place before the next boost in doses.
“When we move and we increase doses again in March, my intention is to have seven vaccinators and probably four registration and four second-
appointment schedulers,” she said.
At the current site, “there just isn’t room” for that.
Grimes said as vaccinations have increased, demand for testing has fallen off, from about 170 per day to 40 to 50 per day. Last Saturday, during a four-hour testing time, four people came in for a test.
She’s working on shifting testing resources to vaccination efforts.
For those trying to receive a shot but having difficulty making an appointment, Grimes said there is a wait list for the last doses of the day.
“Yes, that does exist,” she said. “We do have situations where, at the end of the day, we have to use doses, because once that vial is opened, it holds 10 doses and it’s only good for six hours.
It can be a frenetic yet exhilarating part of the day, she said.
“So, we try really hard, like ‘OK, how many doses do we have, how many appointments do we have left, have we called these people, do we know they’re coming, can we get a hold of this person?” she said.
“We kind of have to work it out so at the end of the day we’re not throwing away any doses. Because we absolutely want to be good stewards of that vaccine.”
To not waste any vaccine but also have enough to give shots to everyone with an appointment in a given week, there is a priority call system at the end of each vaccination day.
They start by calling people with appointments later in the week, then move to people who are eligible but don’t have an appointment, and finally to people who don’t meet the vaccine criteria but may be close or have other health issues.
There’s no guarantee those on the list will ever be called, but there’s a chance, she said.
One night, near the end of the day, they had no doses left in open bottles and were waiting for one last appointment to arrive. That person did show up, causing a scramble to get nine people into the clinic for the remaining doses.
“I don’t want them to have false hope, where they’re going to think, ‘Oh, we’re on a wait list, it’s gonna happen,’” Grimes said. “It may or may not. I want people to know it may or may not.
“Still, watch the website, pay attention to who’s eligible, go on the website every couple of days, because sometimes people cancel and that opening pops up on the state website.”
To get on the wait list, people can call 765-641-9523 or 765-646-9206.