Park County Vaccine Delivery Update

The Park County medical community and Public Health are working closely together to quickly get vaccines to as many as possible within the first tiers. Park County Public Health, Cody Regional Hospital, Powell Valley Health Care, Heritage Health, 307 Health, Billings Clinic, and Medical Center Pharmacy are but a few agencies working together to provide vaccine when it arrives. Park County has numerous dedicated volunteers assisting in this effort, including retired nurses, doctors, and staff from various facilities. “It truly is a great example of Park County pulling together to get vaccines out to the community,” says Bill Crampton, Park County Public Health Nurse Manager. The Park County Emergency Response Team (CERT), with the leadership of Jack Tatum, Homeland Security Division, is another group that deserves strong recognition for their help.

As of January 19^th, there were approximately 1,950 doses delivered to the county. As of yesterday, Park County had 1,850 total doses administered. This includes first and second doses. That means 100 doses remained and many of those have been administered.

Tuesday saw Park County receive another 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Although we are getting the Moderna vaccine, it is coming in much smaller numbers. Two local pharmacies have been established to give the Moderna vaccine. They are reaching out to their 70 and older clients to make appointments and delivering vaccines within their limits.

The 975 doses of Pfizer vaccine received yesterday have already been allotted for several very large tier 1.B groups including the school districts throughout the county. As deliveries of larger amounts of the Pfizer vaccine are made, larger clinics at the Fairgrounds in Powell and at the Cody Auditorium will be held. “We want to have clinics of 600, 700, even 800 people in a day, once we get more vaccine made available to us. ”, said Kindy Krei, Supervising Nurse at the Powell Public Health office.

Crampton noted that “We would have many more people vaccinated to date if we had more vaccine available. Unfortunately, those deliveries are out of the County’s hands at this time.”

Park County has the third oldest population in the state. Health and Human Services Medicare data shows that we have almost 8,000 people over the age of 65. Those are just the ones on Medicare. In tiers 1. A and 1.B, there are as many as 3,000 people identified. With a county population of close to 30,000 people, nearly half of our population falls into those categories. Currently, with the County only receiving 975 doses every 2-3 weeks, demand is far outpacing supply. Park County Public Health and our medical community appreciate your patience. For those who want the vaccine, we are working diligently to ensure that you receive it as quickly as possible.

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