The following statement was issued by Mendocino County 5th District Supervisor on his Facebook page:
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been frustrating. Imagine the county receiving a set allocation of vaccine doses with advance notice of delivery dates and quantities. We’d author a plan and execute orderly administration, taking reservations, providing notice and preventing chaos. Unfortunately, this is not the dynamic. The matrix of unknowns is enormous with constant changes. Our government systems were not built to respond to rapid changes. Garbage in gives you garbage out. As a sole Supervisor, I don’t have authority over the day to day implementation, but I’ve been fortunate to enjoy the opportunity to participate hands on in assisting the effort. Anyone who believes there is an easy solution (“if they would just…”) is missing the background details. Just some of the difficulties:
– Vaccines arrive to multiple entities. The county oversees one entity, public health.
– differences in staffing, facilities, location, etcetera necessitates rollout irregularities.
– Nobody knows how much will arrive until days before. This makes it difficult to advertise.
– Once vaccines arrive, injection should happen within about 48 hours.
– Deliveries have varied between hundreds and thousands doses.
– Commitment does not always pan out.
– Ratio between hospitals and county have varied greatly.
– The feds committed to vaccinating Long Term Care Facilities, but then stalled.
– Had we done it, we would have vaccinated fewer within the county.
– The state has forced the county to transition between five different computer systems in a short time.
– The state advertises groups as eligible, yet doesn’t provide us with supply to follow through.
– Once vaccines are thawed in the morning, there is a short, hours-long window for use.
– People sign up as healthcare workers when they are not. Same in every category.
– We advertise 2nd dose clinics and find many people have signed up to get a first.
– People from other counties register, clogging our systems. Booted, but a drain.
– At the Mendocino High event on 2/2, we booted 49.
– The state’s “myturn” software/website is flawed. If someone would give me the code, I’d fix it.
– We get graded on compliance with state plan. If we fail to meet requirements, supply gets reduced.
– We don’t have autonomy to devise our own allocation plan. We’re an agent, not authority.
– Administered vaccines must be logged through a vaccine system designed to track child vaccines. Old technology. We were told our third party clinic partners were not logging, but it seems perhaps it’s the systems lagging. Eye roll.
– Not everyone has a local health care provider. Not everyone has a cell phone. Not everyone has Internet access. The county doesn’t have a directory of the population by category.
Hearing the legitimate feedback that not everyone is on the Internet continuously, Cici attempted a radio advertisement for a drop-in Adventist Health vaccine clinic today in Fort Bragg. Towards the end of the event, it was clear radio outreach was not sufficient. The goal was to reach a different audience, but it didn’t generate the demand social media creates. My post reached too many, but hand selecting would also be met with angst. Impossible circumstances and it was important to make the most of 45 doses. I applaud Cici for the attempt to improve equity. She’s been the best face for Adventist Health and works around the clock. I know how much she works, because of our constant dialogue over difficulties. All of the clinics have worked diligently in collaborate.
I understand the frustration with short notice. As we make the most of the situation handed down, there are times when short notice is the best we can do. My goals in order of priority:
1) Maximize overall doses to Mendocino County (through compliance, advocacy, supporting staff)
2) Vaccines in appropriate arms as quick as possible.
3) Equity in distribution.
4) Mitigate public stress.
We’re doing reasonably well on doses per capita and timely application.
Compared to the state and nation, we’re near the top of the list. As demand levels off, I believe equity will improve. You can help by looking out for people less able to track announcements. If you have an elderly neighbor in need, be an advocate. Mitigating public stress is important, but we’re in a mode of choosing compromises and it’s not always the most important. Hopefully upstream changes will address chaos. Whether or not you can see it, people are working hard for you. The actual delay is in pharmaceutical company production and distribution.
