Valley Sentinel reached out to the local health departments for an update on vaccine distribution in the county. Below are responses about vaccines in Iowa and Richland counties.
Valley Sentinel: As availability increases and demand plateaus, do you foresee there being an excess of vaccines?
Iowa County Health officer Debbie Siegenthaler and Iowa County Emergency Management Kieth Hurlburt: Yes, at some point we will see more vaccine than there are people wanting to be vaccinated.
VS: If so, does the county plan to adjust its distribution methods?
DS/KH: We have started to make adjustments now. This week and next week we will offer clinics that will incorporate some evening hours. Our intent is to provide an opportunity for people to be vaccinated without taking off of work or using their earned time off.
VS: How confident are you that we will reach a herd immunity level of vaccinations in the county? Do you have an estimate of when that could happen?
DS/KH: We are relatively confident that this will happen later this summer/fall. To reach herd immunity, we strongly encourage people to be vaccinated to protect themselves and their family, friends and neighbors. We have confidence that residents will continue to help in this pandemic response as they have been all along. Getting vaccinated is another important step everyone can take to reach herd immunity and get our lives back to whatever our “new” normal is.
VS: What would you say to the people who are on the fence about getting the vaccine?
DS/KH: We ask that they base their decision on credible sources of information, do their own research and not fall victim to the misinformation game. They should consider the documented data on the testing of the mRNA vaccine technology, its incorporation into the COVID-19 vaccines and the efficacy data that has been established. We can’t do anything about those who spread bad information or twist information to fit their agenda. We ask that those on the fence remember this. Those of us working to vaccinate people are not interested in profit or notoriety. We simply want people to live as long and as healthy of a life as they can.
Herd immunity is necessary to achieve a broad level of protection from the virus. To that end, it is important that every person who can get vaccinated, does – see a few resources on herd immunity below as well as vaccine safety.
- Vaccine Information and Safety Studies | Vaccine Safety | CDC
- COVID-19: Vaccine Safety and Efficacy | Wisconsin Department of Health Services
- Why is herd immunity so important? | American Academy of Pediatrics
- What’s Herd Immunity and How Does It Protect Us? | Webmd
- Herd immunity and COVID-19 (coronavirus): What you need to know | Mayo Clinic
Below are responses from Rose Kohout, Richland County Public Health Officer.
Valley Sentinel: As availability increases and demand plateaus, do you foresee there being an excess of vaccines?
Rose Kohout: We’ve always tried to make sure we knew what our allocation of vaccines was before we’d open up our schedule. We would only open the amount of appointments we had vaccines for. We are trying to tailor the amount of vaccines to the folks who want it.
VS: If so, does the county plan to adjust its distribution methods?
RK: I think at this point, we will probably switch our tactics, we’ll put out appointments and then we’ll see how many vaccines we need. We’ll always take a risk of cancellations or no-shows.
VS: How confident are you that we will reach a herd immunity level of vaccinations in the county? Do you have an estimate of when that could happen?
RK: I wish I could forecast, it’s difficult. We want to do everything we can do to make people feel comfortable, to give them opportunities. It’s important for us to really take a look and see how we can meet the needs of folks who are interested. A Lot of that falls back to us to make people feel comfortable with products and information. A Lot of times there’s that personal interaction that helps people feel comfortable. I think maybe overtime, people will see the vaccines are effective. I also think if the CDC and DHS are allowing fully vaccinated folks to perhaps have a bit more freedom, I think that’s helpful.
VS: What would you say to the people who are on the fence about getting the vaccine?
RK: It’s important for folks to see the value in the vaccine, being fully vaccinated allows you more freedom. If you’re fully vaccinated, you can travel, if you’re outdoors you can be without a mask. I think the continued clinical trials will be helpful, for folks to see that someone has been fully vaccinated for 9 months more and now she’s having a baby, people might see there isn’t an issue with infertility. We’re hopeful to be supportive of that, and get people vaccinated to stop that transmission. Once we can stop transmission, we won’t create variants and new strains don’t occur.
In its weekly COVID-19 update, Sauk County addressed vaccine safety, stating: The speed of the vaccine’s development was the result of cutting red tape and bureaucracy, not cutting corners or bypassing any safety precautions.
Earlier work on other coronaviruses (like SARS and MERS) jump-started the COVID-19 vaccine development process. SARS was first detected in 2002, while MERS was first detected in 2012, and both have been researched ever since. Through ground-breaking partnerships between leading medical experts, scientists were able to build on lessons learned from past pandemics (Zika, Ebola, H1N1) to make the COVID-19 vaccines.
Medical experts and other key players all dedicated their time, effort, and resources to developing COVID-19 vaccines. Millions of Americans have safely received a COVID-19 vaccine. Over 211 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the United States from December 14, 2020, through April 19, 2021. COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. The vaccines met FDA’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization (EUA). Even with all the testing and FDA EUA, there is continued ongoing safety monitoring.
Medical experts and researchers all agree that the vaccines are safe and effective. Getting vaccinated helps you protect yourself, your family, and your community.
Wisconsin DHS recently announced they will be using the CDC’s VaccineFinder, an online resource to find local vaccines. Visit, vaccinefinder.org.