The beginning of the end?

Sheila McGuire, Herald Reporter
Posted 12/16/20

First COVID vaccines arriving this week; state offers new way to get test results

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The beginning of the end?

Posted

EVANSTON — With the FDA issuing emergency authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccines late last week, the first doses of the new vaccine are set to arrive in Wyoming this week, according to a press release from the Wyoming Department of Health. The first shipments of 4,875 doses are to be distributed in five packages of 975 doses each to public health departments in Casper and Cheyenne and hospitals in Gillette, Cody and Jackson.

Since both vaccines currently anticipated to be authorized and shipped this month — from Pfizer and Moderna — require two doses three or four weeks apart, respectively, the initial shipment would provide enough doses for approximately 2,440 Wyomingites to be fully vaccinated, although it is anticipated more doses will be distributed around the country before the end of December.

“Healthcare workers involved in direct patient care and vulnerable residents of Wyoming’s long-term care facilities are among the first groups targeted to receive the new vaccine,” reads the release, which continues, “WDH is ordering COVID-19 vaccines through a federal process with shipments going directly to key hospital partners and local health departments that can efficiently store and share vaccine doses among other counties. Separate amounts are also expected to be provided directly from the federal government to tribal health clinics, military bases and to U.S. Veterans Affairs facilities.”

Here in Uinta County, Public Health Nurse Manager Kim Proffit said the first doses will likely be received following official authorization of the Moderna vaccine, hopefully next week. Proffit said the top priority for those doses will be those working in the hospital with direct COVID contact and care.

Although the arrival of a vaccine may represent the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist said it will continue to be important for people to follow the precautions that have been in place for months, including staying home when sick unless receiving medical care, maintaining physical distance from those in other households as much as possible and wearing cloth face masks.

Under guidelines released by the CDC, healthcare workers and those in long-term care facilities will be the first to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus; those guidelines have multiple phases, which include essential workers and those with conditions known to place individuals at greater risk of serious illness due to COVID-19 after healthcare workers and long-term care residents have been vaccinated. The healthy general public will likely not be able to be vaccinated until spring, barring any production or distribution setbacks or other slowdowns in the coming months.  “Supplies will continue to arrive over the coming months, but most Wyoming residents will be asked to be patient and stay on track a little longer,” said Harrist.

Even as people begin to be vaccinated, however, public health officials admonish that social distancing and mask usage will continue to be necessary in coming months. While both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have shown a high level of protection against COVID-19, it is not certain if vaccinated individuals could transmit the virus even if they themselves are protected and not likely to become ill.

As the pandemic continues to ravage the country, the CDC has released updated guidance on quarantine times for those who have been exposed to someone with known COVID-19 infection. While previously the standard was to quarantine for 14 days following exposure, individuals can now be released from quarantine on day eight, provided they have had a negative COVID-19 test on day five or later. However, that negative test must be a PCR test and not an antigen test. The test conducted at the Wyoming State Health Lab is the required PCR test while the rapid test offered at Evanston Regional Hospital is an antigen test and not sufficient for release from quarantine. However, the rapid test is extremely valuable and recommended for anyone who is symptomatic so that positive individuals can be isolated before potentially spreading illness throughout the community.

This new guidance, while helpful for those eager to return to work or other activities, is also problematic because healthcare practitioners are overwhelmed. After receiving a rapid test at ERH, an individual can expect a call with the rapid result within hours. All tests are then sent on to the Wyoming Health Lab for confirmation, which can take several days. Unfortunately, due to the huge number of tests being conducted during the current surge in cases, the focus is on calling people who are positive and those who have a negative PCR at the state lab may not receive a call. This creates a quandary for those who need that information to be released from quarantine.

Thankfully, a solution is now available. Those who need confirmation of their results, whether negative or positive, can request a release of records directly from the lab by visiting https://health.wyo.gov/admin/privacy/ to download an authorization form. After completing the form and returning it and a copy of photo identification via email to WDH.LabResultRequest@wyo.gov, users can expect to get a return email to set up an account to access individual health records. A Herald staff member who emailed the form one evening last week had access to results the next morning.

Proffit said the state is currently working on an online database through which users can access specific results as well; however, that database is likely weeks away from being functional.

Those who are out of work for COVID-related quarantine or isolation may be eligible for unemployment compensation and are encouraged to call (not go to) the Department of Workforce Services for assistance.

Although the number of new cases has gone down somewhat in recent days, Proffit emphasized during a COVID-19 update on Friday, Dec. 11, that it was still too soon to tell if cases were really on a sustained downward trajectory. The current countywide percentage of tests conducted that come back positive is still in the “red” zone at greater than 13% over the past two weeks.

The WDH has released additional fatality counts in recent days, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 related deaths in Wyoming at 321 as of Monday, Dec. 14. As of Friday, Uinta County had 163 active cases and there had been seven confirmed deaths in the county.

In other COVID-19 related developments, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has announced a new assistance program for businesses impacted by the latest public health orders, which require restaurants and bars to be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Additional information on the Hospitality Loss Relief Program, with awards up to $50,000 per applicant, is available online at wyomingbusiness.org. The application period closes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 16.

A press release from Gordon’s office noted that the program closes on Dec. 30, which is the deadline for expenditure of federal CARES Act dollars, unless Congress acts prior to that date to extend the deadline. Additional unemployment insurance for those out of work due to the pandemic also expires this month, barring further action from the federal government.