The Department of Public Health said after Saturday’s vaccination event that the screening will be “sharpened” for vaccinations on Sunday and Monday, and those not in the state’s first priority phase 1A, which is limited to health workers and long-term caregivers. and staff, can be turned away.
It is unclear how ineligible people were allowed to get the vaccine during the drive-through event on Saturday at the Motor Vehicles Division in Dover. Carney’s office described the event as a ‘Phase 1A Vaccination Clinic’ as ‘Delaware’ sprints ‘to vaccinate Phase 1A individuals.’
Officials said earlier that phase 1B, which is aimed at essential frontline workers and people aged 65 and over, is expected to begin by the end of the month.
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“We are still in Group 1a and the vaccines had to be given to health workers and first responders today,” House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
“A few people went through and had to be challenged, but were not mainly because the staff doing the vaccination were volunteers and did not have access to a database to verify that they were responding first,” he said. Schwartzkopf added. “Others showed up and got vaccinated because friends … called them or posted online and said they should get vaccinated because they got theirs.”
Towards the end of the event, the number of initial reactions decreased, so it was decided to try to get through to people aged 65 or older, ‘Schwartzkopf said.
“The organizers wanted to use all the vaccine they had, so that they were immersed in group 1b and that Modern Maturity had to transfer about 100 elderly people,” he wrote, referring to a senior community center in Dover.
Andrea Wojcik, a spokeswoman for the Public Health Division, said in an email on Sunday that the DPH had asked a small issue to test the logistics and process for vaccinating 65 and older people once the state passed. in phase 1B. a number of organizations with senior citizens held in Dover until Monday through vaccinations.
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Wojcik said in a subsequent email that the technology being tested is to register and manage vaccinations at clinics.
“Wrong information was spread through social media and word of mouth that caused some people to come out and go through the line,” she wrote.
Wojcik did not explain why officials did not announce the test in advance, or when they invited senior groups to attend.
“The select group of 65 years and older was included to assist with a testing of a technological project that will be used to register and process vaccinations in the next phase,” Wojcik wrote. “Due to the increased risk of allergic reactions and more relevant medical history, it may take longer to process a person 65 years or older through the vaccination process, including longer observation times after the vaccine has been administered, and DPH wanted to review it. effect on the drive-through clinic process, again in preparation for the next phase.
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