Once companies are given the green light to roll out COVID-19 vaccines, hospital workers could begin receiving their first doses this month, Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Scott Douglas said.
A government advisory panel ruled Tuesday that health care workers and nursing home residents should be at the front of the line when the first shots become available. Later this month, the Food and Drug Administration will consider authorizing emergency use of two vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.
“When [approval is granted], the vaccine will be shipped immediately,” Douglas said.
Current estimates project that no more than 20 million doses of each vaccine will be available by the end of 2020. And each product requires two doses. As a result, the shots will be rationed in the early stages.
The approved vaccines will be shipped first to key regional hospitals that have equipment to store the vaccine at the required temperatures. Hospitals will then administer the first doses to health care workers followed by the second round three weeks later.
As the vaccines become available sometime early next year to people at high-risk of serious illness from the virus, multiple points of dispensation will be activated throughout the county.
The Montgomery County Health Department has supplies and agreements in place when the sites are ready to open. The plan was last implemented during the H1N1 outbreak in 2009.
Preparations for distributing the vaccines come as the county saw its highest number of single-month coronavirus infections in November. A total of 909 cases were confirmed, up from 206 in October, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. Six people died.
November’s case count represents more than half of all infections since the beginning of the pandemic.
The health department attributes the surge in cases to relaxed compliance with masking and distancing guidelines and indoor social events as the weather cools.
“We think Halloween gatherings contributed and now we’re fearful that Thanksgiving gatherings will accelerate our positive cases,” Douglas said.
Local health officials are watching for new infections directly related to Thanksgiving and urge people to wear a mask, practice social distancing and avoid indoor gatherings.
An additional 27 were reported Wednesday, bringing the overall total to 1,670, according to the state health department. No new deaths were reported.
The county remains in the orange zone for infections, according to the state’s color-coded map, which was updated on Wednesday.
The positivity rate stood at 12.8%. A county moves into the red when the positivity rate hits 15%.
The percentage is calculated each week by using Monday’s seven-day average for the all tests positivity rate for the county. The calculation has a six-day lag time to ensure complete testing information has been received.
Based on current projections, Douglas said, the county may end up in the red over the next couple of weeks. At that point, further state-mandated restrictions on social gatherings fall into place and, depending on the timing, a decision would be made on whether schools begin distance learning.
Douglas said children will likely remain in the classroom if it’s determined the virus is not spreading within the schools.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shortened the recommended length of quarantine after exposure to someone who is positive for COVID-19.
The new guidelines, which were announced Wednesday, will allow people who have come in contact to someone infected with the virus to resume normal activity after 10 days, or 7 days if they receive a negative test result. That’s down from the 14-day period recommended since the onset of the pandemic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.