Although doses of COVID-19 vaccine remain severely limited, Park County Public Health officials say they’re distributing what they have as quickly as possible.

“If I have vaccine, it’s going out,” Park County Public Health Nurse Manager Bill Crampton told county commissioners on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, Park County Public Health had distributed around 3,000 doses of vaccine, spread around Powell, Cody, Meeteetse and even 100 doses in Yellowstone National Park, Crampton said. (“Montana kind of turned its back on Yellowstone,” he told Park County commissioners.)

The vaccine only remains available to a high-priority subset of the population, including healthcare workers, first responders, educators and senior citizens. 

On Monday, the Wyoming Department of Health expanded the pool of people eligible for the vaccine, adding those between the ages of 65 and 69.

However, the newly eligible seniors will have to remain patient, as demand for the vaccine continues to outpace supply. Crampton said that Park County Public Health is remaining focused on those 70 and older and others who are more at-risk from COVID-19 — and is not going to start vaccinating those between the ages of 65 and 69 for some time.

“There’s no vaccine for them right now,” Crampton said.

Park County Public Health offered online sign-ups for vaccination clinics last month, but had to pause the sign-ups for a couple weeks after all of the slots filled up. On Wednesday, the department offered sign-ups for two new clinics for those 70 and up and a third for others who are currently eligible for the shots. 

Public health officials have been directing residents to a county webpage for the latest on vaccine availability and eligibility, at www.parkcounty.us/CoronaVirus.html, but there have been some hiccups.

For instance, although the information has been frequently updated, up until Wednesday, the text at the top of the web page incorrectly stated that the content had last been updated Jan. 6.

“People look at that and stop — and people interpret that as a standstill,” Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin told commissioners on Tuesday. “So little things like that, that help with communication, we need to get fixed.”

Crampton said that public health staffers have been working hard to get ready for large-scale vaccination clinics, which will be supported by staff from Powell Valley Healthcare and Cody Regional Health.

Billin added that Park County was the first in Wyoming to move beyond tier 1a, generally made up of healthcare workers and first responders, and offer the vaccine to people in tier 1b, which includes seniors, educators and others.

“Park County has been ahead of almost every other county,” Billin said.

Another two to three flats of Pfizer’s vaccine, each containing 195 vials, are expected to arrive within the next few weeks, Crampton said, but supplies remain sporadic. On Wednesday afternoon, he was still waiting for a shipment of doses scheduled to be administered today (Thursday).

Crampton stressed that it’s going to take a while to cycle through the eligible groups. For instance, the Census Bureau estimated in 2019 that there were roughly 6,800 Park County residents who were 65 or older; vaccinating that many people would theoretically require 13,600 doses.

“We’re trying our darnedest, Crampton said. “It’s just, it’s going to take time.” 

The Department of Health is allowing those 65 and older to pre-register for an immunization online, but “it doesn’t help us,” Crampton said, “because we don’t have any vaccine.”

He predicted that the waiting list will lead to more calls to public health from registrants wondering when they’ll receive a vaccine, but he has “no idea.”

Already, Crampton said, “we’ve had numerous callers who call every 15 minutes, wanting to know what the next change is.”

“It’s really interfered with our capability of doing stuff in the office,” he said, saying there are 35 to 40 people who call multiple times a day.

He stressed that public health officials are working to quickly distribute vaccines and that, eventually, everyone will have an opportunity to be immunized against COVID-19. 

Meanwhile, Park County Commission Chairman Lee Livingston praised public health’s efforts.

“You guys have done a hell of a job,” he said, “and we appreciate it.”