DES MOINES, Iowa — Last week, the Polk County Health Department didn't receive its anticipated increase in vaccine supply, forcing some residents to wait longer to receive their second dose of the Moderna vaccine.
On Tuesday, the department announced it has partnered with Hy-Vee to make sure those residents may not have to wait as long as they thought to get their second dose.
"[Hy-Vee is] part of a national pharmacy partnership that are receiving shipments of vaccine directly from the federal government," explained Angela Connelly, Polk County supervisor. "And they have offered to use some of those vaccines to help us catch up on those second doses."
Because of this partnership between PCHD and Hy-Vee, the county expects to be fully caught up on second doses by March 15. Eddy said without this partnership, it may have taken until April 5 or 12 to catch up.
The partnership started Monday, according to PCHD Director Helen Eddy.
"Individuals who received their first dose at the health department and have been unable to schedule their second dose will now be able to go to a specific Hy-Vee location to get their second dose," Eddy said.
Those looking to schedule their second dose should watch out for an email from the PCHD and not call Hy-Vee. The PCHD will contact those who had their appointments canceled directly via email.
Eddy also said other vaccine providers in the county will reach out to folks directly to schedule their second-dose appointments.
"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the second dose should be as administered as close to the recommended interval as possible," Eddy explained. "However, if it is not feasible to adhere to the recommended interval and a delay in vaccination is unavoidable, the second dose of Moderna vaccines may be administered up to six weeks, 42 days, after the first dose."
Eddy said that as long as the second dose is administered within the 42-day interval, there should be no reason to restart the series.
"We remain committed to CDC guidance to complete the two-dose series and are working as hard as we can to do that as quickly as possible," Eddy said.
Eddy also clarified Tier 2 of the vaccination process in Polk County.
"In Polk County, we move from tiers when we know 70% of the current tier is vaccinated," Eddy said. "We project Tier 2 will be late spring 2021."
When asked for further clarification on what "late spring" meant, Eddy said late-April to early-May.
"Of course, this can be affected by the supply of vaccine," Eddy noted.
Don't know if you're eligible in the next tier? Click/tap this link to find out.
Eddy said it'll take a while to vaccinate 70% of the current tier, Phase 1B Tier 1, which has over 100,000 residents.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine emergency use authorization was approved by the Food and Drug Administration over the weekend, and Iowa is set to receive 25,600 single-use doses.
While it is just a single dose series, Eddy assured those listening in that this vaccine is 85% effective against severe disease and 100% effective against death.
"Therefore, our message is that all vaccines are highly effective, and you should get the first vaccine offered to do," Eddy said.
However, Polk County will not be receiving any of those doses. Instead, those doses are being allocated to 17 other counties that have a high number of manufacturing facilities, according to Eddy.