The health department will start saving and administering vaccines to the most vulnerable of Wood
County’s population.
Health Commissioner Ben Robison said coronavirus doses will be diverted to target seniors and others who
are having trouble connecting for appointments. Robison talked at Wednesday’s Wood County Committee on
Aging Board meeting, which was held remotely.
He said there is part of the population that has limited access to scheduling or transportation.
“As the individuals are identified … that’s where we’re directing our dosing,” Robison said.
The health department is organizing the drive to reach this population through the committee on aging and
the Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
“This way we feel like we’re covering our bases,” he said.
The health department is also developing an information-only telephone line that will have current
information about the status of the local vaccine campaign.
It will specifically address new information, how to connect to appointments and when the next update is
coming.
Robison also said that the department is expanding on-call opportunities.
“People are nervous they’re going to be missed,” he said.
These on-call opportunities will not be plentiful immediately, Robison added.
“There is significantly more demand than supply,” he said of vaccine. “We are about a fifth of the way
through (1B).
“It’s very challenging right now for folks who want vaccine to find it.”
In Wood County, there are 25,000-30,000 people in that 1B category, which includes people age 65 and
older and school staff who would like a vaccine, Robison said. It could take 16 weeks before 1B
vaccinations are done, he said.
So far, about 5,000 vaccines have been administered in Wood County since the first batch arrived on
Christmas Eve, he said.
The health department is also in the process of expanding its phone lines and hiring extra staff.
Robison said they are aware that many times people inquiring about a vaccination can’t get through on the
telephone.
“We don’t want people to feel a sense of unease because of that,” he said.
The extra call support will get up to 40 people dedicated to Wood County information, including other
vaccine providers, such as Mercy Health and Kroger.
The team will also quickly return calls if needed, Robison said.
The health department will continue to reserve 20% of vaccination appointments as phone-based scheduling
only.
He said, for example, last week when Mercy Health’s online appointment window opened Friday at noon, all
of the appointments for the week were reserved in 15 minutes.
The phone appointments, however, were still available until 5:30 p.m. It’s allowing seniors to have a
larger window to reserve by calling, Robison said.
