Oconto County asks for patience on vaccine distribution

Vaccination of phase 1A individuals continues
By: 
NEW Media Staff

Oconto County Public Health is asking people to be patient as they wait for COVID-19 vaccine to become more readily available locally, and in the meantime the department continues to encourage people to observe safety protocols.

“We realize that there is quite a bit of anticipation about the COVID-19 vaccines that arrived in Wisconsin in mid-December,” community health educator Sara Applebee said in an email to local leaders on Jan. 11, when the state was still vaccinating individuals in phase 1A, health-care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. “Oconto County is making plans to vaccinate individuals in phase 1A who are not affiliated with a health-care system. Oconto County is unable to vaccinate anyone outside of phase 1A.”

The county is still waiting for guidelines for phase 1B, which includes people age 75 and older, as well frontline essential workers, defined as first responders (including firefighters and police officers), corrections officers, food and agricultural workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, and those who work in education and child care.

“Once the phase 1B guidelines are released, Oconto County Public Health will continue working with our partners to implement an administrative plan for safe distribution of the vaccine to those in phase 1B,” Applebee said.

Vaccine distribution to those in 1B will take time and is dependent on vaccine allotment and staffing, she said. While waiting for the vaccine, Applebee encouraged people to continue to wash hands often, wear a mask in public, avoid gatherings, keep 6 feet of space between each other in public, and stay home when sick, on isolation or quarantine, and while waiting for test results.

The pace of COVID-19 spread appears to be slowing locally. According to the state Department of Health Services, Oconto County reported 901 new positive tests and nine deaths in November, 529 positives and 11 deaths in December, and 280 positive tests and five deaths through Jan. 17.

The county posts local COVID-19 information, including vaccine information, at www.ocontocountycovid.info.