The Covid inoculation effort in Idaho is picking up steam. Right now, it's in a transition point, says state public health administrator Elke [elkie] Shaw
ISU delivers freezers for COVID-19 vaccine statewide — second freezer to be delivered to Idaho panhandle idahostatejournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from idahostatejournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Image courtesy of Idaho State University
POCATELLO Like they did when Southeastern Idaho Public Health presented a need, Idaho State University is jumping to the assistance of the Idaho Panhandle Health District.
The university’s Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences has already loaned out one of their lab freezers to SIPH.
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2020/12/isu-lab-freezers-help-store-vaccine-for-southeastern-idaho-public-health/
Now, it is sending one to Northern Idaho to further assist in the storage of the COVID-19 vaccine.
An ISU-SIPH collaboration is easily understood. As to how the Pocatello-based university linked up with a district based in Hayden, nearly eight hours away? That is a Bengal thing, said ISU VP of Health Services Rex Force.
ISU delivers COVID-19 vaccine freezers statewide
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) –– “Bengals helping Bengals” is how Idaho State University got involved in a plan to share freezers cold enough to store the COVID-19 vaccine with health districts statewide.
David Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and ISU alumni, knew the state was going to need cold storage of -70 degrees Celsius to store the incoming Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at each of its seven health district facilities around the state. But with freezers for several of the health districts on back order or with delayed delivery, Jeppesen had a problem.
Credit Courtesy of Gilead
The Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is in different phases of distribution around the Northwest.
Providence reports it has received almost 4,000 doses. Spokeswoman Beth Hegde says the health system’s highest risk caregivers will be inoculated with it on Friday.
She says the first dose won’t be enough to cover all of the people in that category.
The Idaho Panhandle Health District says it hasn t yet received its first shipment. We will begin reporting on-hand inventory the day vaccine shipments arrive into the state’s system so they are aware of our inventory. This will be done each day, said district spokeswoman Katherine Hoyer. When vaccine is redistributed to healthcare partners, that will be reported to the state as well and they will track it appropriately.