ND hoping to increase vaccine rollout

As North Dakota inches closer to the 20% mark for residents who have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine health officials admit hesitancy about getting a shot remains the biggest hurdle to date.  State Immunization Director Molly Howell says there is a lot of misinformation circulating about the drugs.  Howell says they also plan to reach out to certain age groups to encourage greater participation.  “This week the Department of Health is sending out 62,000 letters to those 65 and over who have not received the vaccine.”

State officials expect supplies of the vaccine to increase in the coming weeks.  Howell says they ready if and when that happens.  “At a minimum they can give 60,000 doses a week…we have additional infrastructure that would add 7,500 doses a day…we haven’t used any of our National Guard friends…and as a last resort we could contact FEMA.”

Grand Forks County has administered 22,565 shots to date.

GF Health Update:

The City of Grand Forks, Grand Forks Public Health, and Altru are currently vaccinating all Tiers of Phase 1B of the North Dakota Department of Health plan, which includes persons 65 and older, persons 16-64 with 2 or more underlying health conditions, health care workers providing direct patient care, first responders, persons working or living in long-term care, persons working or living in congregate settings, childcare workers, persons working in Pre-K-12th.

Those who fit into Phase 1C, who are interested in receiving the vaccine, are encouraged to fill out the questionnaire at MyChart.altru.org or call 701.780.6358 to be included on the COVID-19 vaccine waitlist.

Note: We are not currently vaccinating people who fall into Phase 1C tiers, but may begin vaccination soon.  

Phase 1C includes individuals who meet the following criteria per the North Dakota COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization Plan (tiers in order of priority):

• National Guard, not previously covered
• Workers enabling access to human food (i.e., grocery workers), not including restaurant workers
• Public safety answering points (911)
• Manufacturing related to the development or supply of COVID-19 vaccine
• Other healthcare/public health workers not included in phase 1A
• Free standing clinical laundries
• Public transit, including bus, taxi, ride-share
• Persons age 16 – 64 with one or more high-risk medical conditions
• Blood bank workers not previously vaccinated
• Information Technology
• All other essential workers per Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)