Details of administering the coronavirus vaccine in Winneshiek County remain to be worked out

Many Winneshiek County residents are looking forward to being able to get the coronavirus vaccine.  However, Winneshiek County Public Health Director Krista Vanden Brink says there are numerous details which still need to be worked out for any vaccine program.

The Center for Disease Control and the US Food and Drug Administration are working on drawing up a document setting out which groups will be given a priority in receiving the coronavirus vaccine.  Vanden Brink says that document hasn't been finalized yet, so the county's Public Health Department is still waiting for guidance.

Vanden Brink told Winneshiek County Supervisors on Monday that her department will have to do strict record keeping of which people locally receive the vaccine.  One of the reasons record keeping will be so important is that two doses of the vaccine will need to be administered three to four weeks apart.  Vanden Brink says some people who receive the vaccine might have nausea or vomiting as a side effect and might be tempted to forgo the second shot, which is necessary to make sure the vaccine works.

Another reason for needing strict record keeping is that there will be different vaccines from different manufacturers and local workers must make sure that the second dose of vaccine is given by the same source as the first dose—otherwise the vaccine won't be effective.

Another issue that Vanden Brink says must be worked out is that several Winneshiek County health workers live here but work in La Crosse or Rochester and federal officials haven't determined whether the vaccine administration will be based on where someone lives or on where someone works.