You can count Door County Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jim Heise among those anxious for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations to begin. Heise says over 60 percent of the hospital’s employees have been vaccinated with the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. He adds all of the residents at the skilled nursing center and half of their staff have also been vaccinated with the second dose coming for some as soon as January 20th. Statewide, the state has struggled to keep up with the demand for the vaccine with only approximately 110,000 receiving it since the rollout started in mid-December. Rep. Joel Kitchens sent a letter to Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm requesting more transparency in the roll-out process of the vaccine, which is the third slowest in the Midwest. Heise’s initial concern was when rural hospitals like Door County Medical Center would receive the COVID-19 vaccines since urban areas like Green Bay got the Pfizer-version first. He says now they are waiting to see who gets to have the vaccination next after healthcare workers and when.
Door County Medical Center has also been able to take care of some of their volunteers, dentists, optometrists, and emergency services employees while Door County Public Health waits for their shipment. Heise adds that once they get more vaccines and they shift phases, they will have plenty of people to administer it.
He says only two or three of the several hundred people they have vaccinated so far have had some kind of minor side effect. He expects the shift to phase 1B, which will include people 75 and older, teachers, first responders, and corrections workers, to start receiving vaccinations later this month.
