A media Zoom meeting was held Feb. 10, 2021 for our media partners and community.
Our panel consisted of:
Shawn Crabtree, Executive Director
Dr. Weyman, Medical Director
Stuart Spillman, Environmental Health Director moderator
A list of questions was presented to our staff by the media. If you have questions for our next media zoom meeting, feel free to contact the health educator at your local health department or reach out to Melonie Williams at the District Office at Melonie.williams@lcdhd.org or 606-678-4761 x 1127.
Questions for media zoom meeting 2/10/21:
General Comments about how COVID-19 is trending.
Dr. Weyman
Q1: What medical conditions for getting the vaccine in group 1c will be covered?
Per CDC, adults of any age with the following conditions are at increased risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19:
• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Down Syndrome
• Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
• Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but less than
40 kg/m2)
https://govstatus.egov.com/ky-covid-vaccine
Shawn
Q2: How are COVID-19 vaccinations being distributed in the Lake
Cumberland Health Department’s area?
500 doses are coming to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital per week. Several pharmacies are supposed to start receiving a small supply soon. The state is aggressively trying to establish two more regional sites in Lake Cumberland.
How is the health department distributing vaccine? Up until the last push of
4,000 doses, the state was deciding how much each county received. The push of 4,000 came to our district and we divided it to each county based on what percent of the district’s total population each county represents.
For example, if a county has 10% of the district’s population, they received about 10% of the vaccine.
Q3: I wanted to specifically ask about Wayne County because I have heard so many people who want to receive the vaccine but do not know how?
The people in Wayne County are in the same situation as every county.
There isn’t enough supply to meet the demand.
Q4: Can you get on a list in Wayne County in case there are extra vaccines available?
The health department isn’t presently keeping a list.
- We haven’t been promised additional vaccine
- Places that are keeping lists, their lists have grown to 10s of thousands long.
Q5: What populations are currently included in the vaccination schedule?
1A Long term care facilities, assisted living facilities, health care personnel
1B First responders, anyone age 70 or older, K-12 school personnel
Q6: Do you anticipate receiving more vaccines in the near future? I hope so, but none has been promised at this point.
Q7: What is the best source
for vaccination information in this area? https://govstatus.egov.com/ky-covid-vaccine https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html
https://www.lcdhd.org/info-tools/health-assessments-and- statistics/health_report_card/covid19-state-wide-outbreak-2/
Q8: If vaccine doses become available in a county other than where a
person lives, it is perfectly acceptable to get vaccinated there? In other words, there are no requirements to live in the county that the dose has been allocated for?
While you must be a Kentucky resident, all counties have an agreement not to turn out-of-county citizens away. This probably works to Lake Cumberland’s advantage.
Dr. Weyman
Q9: If I took the first dose of the vaccine and got COVID shortly after, am I able to get the second dose on time or do I need to wait three months? Yes, you are able to get the second dose after you have been released from isolation and recovered. However, many people who received their dose close to covid infection had severe immune side effects so waiting a few months may be a good strategy.
