Polk County Public Health Director Sarah Reese provided an update Tuesday on COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccine to the Polk County Commissioners. Reese said the county’s seven-day case rate has stayed low the past couple of weeks but that vaccines were still very limited.
Reese said the past two weeks have both seen about 35 new cases of COVID-19 in Polk County but stressed that reopening businesses, restarting in-person school days, and athletic activities does increase the community’s vulnerability to another increase. “While our COVID numbers continue to increase each of the seven-day periods, our cases have continued to be low – 35 cases each week – which is exciting,” said Reese. “I think it’s important to remember, though, that we are in a vulnerable time, and those numbers could escalate at any time. We are starting up lots of activities that had been on a bit of a pause, so it’s important for us to be mindful of our personal accountability in doing those little things that we’d been talking about all year. That will be important as we move forward, but so excited to see the low numbers. And for people to be out and about in the community.”
Polk County Public Health receives doses of the COVID-19 vaccine marked as either first dose or as first and second doses. Reese said the number of vaccines being received is still very limited, but the county expects a number of additional vaccines to arrive in the next week. “Polk County Public Health to date has received and done vaccinations for 300 first doses so far,” said Reese. “Of course, we have health care partners that have done additional doses. We are excited about having vaccine in Polk County, mindful that federally, in the state, and Polk County, it’s very, very limited doses. While I’d like to say that we have a readily available vaccine, that is not our reality right now. We have plans in place, though, that when that vaccine is available, we will be able to get it out quickly. We will use KROX and other avenues to let people know when it is available.”
Reese also discussed the Minnesota vaccine pilot programs with regional vaccination sites. Reese said the number of available vaccines for the pilot program is also extremely limited, noting that the largest school district in Polk County is East Grand Forks, with several hundred staff. They were allotted just 16 vaccines for the initial pilot program. “We are also working on a new regional vaccine program that the state is piloting,” said Reese. “They will be having nine sites across Minnesota, one in Thief River Falls, serving adults 65 and older, K-12 educators, and child care workers. I will preface this opportunity by saying this is a pilot program, and doses are very limited. For the educator sector, school districts were allocated a certain amount of vaccine. They vary by school district. East Grand Forks is the example I gave. They are our largest school district and were given just under 20 slots. As I understand it, the registration (information) for folks 65 and older will be coming out later today. We are finishing up phase 1A, which has three different priority groups or tiers, in the next week or so.”
