HANCOCK COUNTY — COVID-19 vaccination efforts at Hancock Regional Hospital are building, and long-term care facilities in the county are preparing for their turn.
Tim Livesay, director of pharmacy for the hospital, said 1,270 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered to front-line health-care workers as of Dec. 29 since the clinic opened on Dec. 18. The schedule for the beginning of next week is starting to fill up, he added.
The state has allowed the hospital to increase the number of vaccinations it can perform a day to 288, up from the nearly 200 a day it began with, Livesay continued. Amounts of doses in the hospital’s weekly shipments will be increased to accommodate that.
Livesay said the hospital this week received its first shipment of a COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna as well and is preparing to start administering doses from it soon. When the clinic opened, only a vaccine made by Pfizer was approved for use.
Both vaccines require two doses. Pfizer’s is given 21 days apart while Moderna’s is 28 days apart.
Through Tuesday, there had been three allergic reactions reported from vaccinations at the hospital, but none were serious, Livesay said. Recipients remain at the clinic for 15 minutes after their shot for monitoring.
The next group of people to be vaccinated as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are residents of long-term care facilities. The state is working with CVS and Walgreens to accomplish that.
Facilities in Hancock County are preparing.
Ryan Skinner, executive director of Woodland Terrace of New Palestine, said he and his colleagues hope to hear in the coming days of the date the facility’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic for residents will start. CVS will provide the clinic, he added.
Angela Miller, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Justus Companies, of which Woodland Terrace of New Palestine is a part, said the clinic will continue a relationship with CVS that goes back years and includes administering influenza vaccinations.
"So it’ll be very similar and it should be a pretty efficient process, because we’ve worked with them for multiple years in doing the regular flu clinics," Miller said.
Skinner said the facility has 83 residents.
"Just judging by the questions I’m getting from everybody, there’s getting to be a certain buzz," he said. "They’re anxious to get it, rather than worried about getting it."
Miller said staff members seem to be more hesitant toward the vaccine than residents, their family members and caregivers in the Justus Companies’ communities.
The facility won’t require staff or residents to get the vaccine.
"We’re trying to encourage people and motivate people and educate our staff so that they understand, and being just very forthright about what the risks and benefits are," Miller said.
Of Justus Companies’ communities, the New Palestine facility has the highest number of staff to start to be vaccinated, she added.
And that’s starting to snowball, Skinner said.
"When their coworkers are coming back feeling fine and not having any side effects, I think that kind of empowers them to want to go get it as well," he said.
A Golden LivingCenters-Indiana spokesperson told the Daily Reporter in an email that COVID-19 vaccine is anticipated to be available at the company’s Brandywine location in Greenfield starting on Jan. 13. The spokesperson said the facility is working closely with a pharmacy provider, the state health department, residents and their care teams "to support this exciting and hopeful process."
COVID-19 cases continue to climb at Springhurst Health Campus in Greenfield. An online dashboard its parent company maintains reported Wednesday that 30 of its 109 residents and 19 of its 108 active employees were COVID-19 positive or presumed positive. Under cumulative COVID-19-related employee and resident deaths, the dashboard reports a total of two.
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer for the Indiana State Department of Health, said Wednesday that nearly 76,000 Hoosiers have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. More than 110,000 had scheduled appointments for a shot through next Monday. Those figures do not include an estimated 40,000 doses set aside for long-term care facilities, she added.
Weaver also said the state’s external vaccine advisory committee met this week to review the latest guidelines and data to make recommendations on the future of COVID-19 vaccinations in Indiana. She added she hopes to share that information in the coming weeks.
"We are hopeful that by the end of January we are moving into different groups," Weaver said.
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Hancock County has recorded 199 new infections over the past two days but no new deaths, according to the Indiana State Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The database shows 86 new infections were reported in data posted Thursday, Dec. 31; and 113 in information posted on New Year’s Day.
The county’s death toll from COVID-19 remained at 83, according to data posted Friday. The county has recorded 5,240 positive cases since the pandemic began in March.
Statewide, the health department on Friday reported 6,407 new positive tests and 106 additional deaths. The state’s death toll now stands at 8,016, with 517,773 positive tests recorded.
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