New Report On Lamar County COVID Vaccine Activities

Paris EMS Interim Director Russell Thrasher presented an in-depth report to the City Council Monday night on the COVID-19 vaccination status in Lamar County.

COVID-19 Vaccines that have received FDA Emergency Use Authorizations

• Three vaccines have received FDA Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) :

– Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2) – 95% effective (manufacturer data)

– Moderna (mRNA-1273) – 98.5% effective (manufacturer data)

– Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S) – 72% effective (manufacturer data)

• Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines that give our cells instructions to make “spike proteins” against COVID-19 with a two-dose schedule.
• Janssen is a viral victor vaccine that uses inactivated cold virus to activate the same immune response with a single dose.
• People vaccinated should complete the two-dose series or single-dose series with the same vaccine product.

Creating a County-Wide Vaccine Waiting List

• Initial vaccine roll-outs for Moderna and Pfizer began Dec 4. The initial doses were available in Lamar County around Dec 21.
• Residents and facilities inundated PLCHD and the City with calls wanting the vaccine. However, we kept only a hand-written waiting list at the time.
• The Mayor, City Manager, and County Judge directed the Health Dept. and City Staff to create and maintain a centralized method of joining a waiting list by both online sign-up and voice call center to control and organize the massive requests for vax.
• The online sign-up system was made available on Jan 18, 2021, followed by volunteer staffing of the EOC at PD as the centralized call center on Feb 3.
• To date, 14,920 have registered using the online form, and 1897 have registered through the call center. 
• Initial allocations were small, only 100-200 per week. We used the NETRAC office and PrimeTime to vaccinate the Phase 1a group as allocations slowly grew to 400-600 per week, the public clinics on Fridays moved to the Hunt Center at PJC.
• On distribution week 9, Feb 8-12, Lamar County was finally designated as a Vaccine Hub by the Department of State Health Services, guaranteeing 1,000 doses per week. This number proved challenging at all previous centers, so we moved to the Love Civic Center. Other than one week when we moved to PHS, the Civic Center has been the primary location for vaccine injections.
• There has been zero cost to any person or insurance company for vaccinations through the Paris Lamar County Health District.

Public Vaccine Clinics:

A Priority for COVID-19 Vaccinations

Initial allocations were small, only 100-200 per week. We used the NETRAC office and PrimeTime to vaccinate the Phase 1a group.

• As allocations slowly grew to 400-600 per week, the public clinics on Fridaysmoved to the Hunt Center at PJC
• There has been zero cost to any person or insurance company for vaccinations through the Paris Lamar County Health District.

Public Vaccine Clinics:

A Priority for COVID-19 Vaccinations

The Challenge: Instilling Vaccine Confidence

Only 58% of the general public said they would receive a COVID-19 vaccine

(Data from October 2020 Harris poll) 

Factors weighing on acceptance

• Are there side effects?
• Does it work?
• Is it safe?
• How much does it cost?

The Process is Simple (once we figured it out!)

• Monday-Thursday scheduling vaccinations– online, texting, email, and by phone.
• Thursday night-making rosters and printing forms and cards
• Friday morning 5:30 am-Setup for the clinic, move wheelchairs, ice water for staff, preload 360 clipboards, thaw and draw vaccine, volunteers arrive and open the doors at 8:00 am. 1:00-2:00 Finish Clinic.
• Saturday-Sunday-Enter data in TDEM, IMMTRAC2, and Database
• Repeat

Large Scale Vaccinations:

It’s all about Planning and Logistics

• Dec 4, 2020 – Vaccine opens to all healthcare workers and NH staff
• Jan 3, 2021 – Vaccine opens to 65+ including NH residents and anyone 16+ with a significant medical condition.
• Jan 22, 2021 – PLCHD opens regular Friday vaccination clinics
• Feb 26, 2021 – Vaccine prioritized for super seniors 75+
• Mar 3, 2021 – Vaccine opens to all teachers, education, and childcare workers
• Mar 10, 2021 – Vaccine opens to anyone over 50 years of age
• Mar 29, 2021 – Vaccine opens to anyone 18+

Key Timeline Benchmarks

January 1-April 9, 2021 Demographics

Total Vaccine Doses Given – 17,978

Vetted Registrations: 11,447

Online 83.4%, 9,550

Call Center 16.6%, 1,897

Vaccines Doses Given by Brand:

Moderna 97.8%, 17,592

Janssen 2.2%, 386

Inoculations by Race (started tracking 2/12/21)

Caucasian: 82.6%, Black 10.1%, Asian 3.2%, American Indian .7%, Other 3.3%.

Inoculations by Ethnicity (started tracking 2/12/21)

Hispanic 6.9%, Non-Hispanic 93.1%

Jan 1-Apr 9 2021 Demographics

Top five Ages Registered/Inoculated

#1 72 #2 64 #3 63 #4 65 #5 74

Top five Cities Recipients Were From

#1 Paris #2 Powderly #3 Blossom #4 Reno #5 Dallas

Most Distant Recipients – Vaccine Tourism

New Orleans, South Padre Island, San Antonio, McAllen, OKC, Austin 

Currently, there are:

2,436 waiting on the second dose of Moderna

1,228 waiting on the first dose of either Vaccine

7,783 series complete – completely vaccinated 

 

Jan 1-Apr 9 2021 Demographics

Busiest Week for Inoculations: 3/22-3/26 3,096 injections given. 

Given on 3/26 in 5.5 hrs, 2,593 √

 

PLCHD Staff, City of Paris EMS Paramedics and

Billing Staff, PJC Teachers, and Nursing Student Volunteers, Citizen

Volunteers such as Retired Nurses and a Doctor, Pharmacists, On-Duty

Public Works and Firefighters, County Volunteers, and others staff our clinics. 

Supplies Purchased: 60k Gloves, 32k Needles, 25k Syringes, 20k Alcohol Preps, 20k Bandaids, 15k Surgical Masks, 450 Sharpz Containers, 360 Clipboards, 20 Wheelchairs, and many other essential logistical aides. 

Off-Clinic Vaccine Sites 

PLCHD has also gone on-site to administer vaccinations to places such as: 

We-Pack Harrison Walker Harper

Paris ISD North Lamar ISD

Lamar Nat Bank Liberty Nat Bank

FUMC NAACP Office

RK Hall Turner Pipe

Pine Tree Ranch and others.

We are also opening the Friday Clinic from 7:00 am until 8:00 am just for Kimberly-Clark employees and are administering a drive-thru clinic at Campbell Soup on Apr 22.

Future Plans to Continue Vaccinations

(Evolving Situation and Subject to Change Without Notice)

PLCHD and the City of Paris plan two more large-scale clinics – Apr 16 and Apr 30. On Apr 23, we’ve booked LCC. As of today, this will complete the scheduled mass vaccinations and finish up the required second doses of Moderna, as remaining interest in the first vaccinations is waning. Future clinics will be scaled back and perhaps done at PrimeTime and the PLCHD office.