Anyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine in Sweetwater County can receive one.
The Sweetwater County District Board of Health opened vaccines to all residents last week, but demand for large-scale vaccination clinics is diminishing according to healthcare representatives.
Castle Rock Hospital District CEO Bailie Dockter said the medical center is going to pull away from giving first doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and turn over more of its vaccine allotment to the county board of health in the coming weeks.
The medical center has distributed 2,300 first injections and 1,455 second doses as of Monday. Dr. Connie Fauntleroy said the medical center had 250 first doses available Monday as it continues to shift focus to providing those second doses.
Kim Lionberger, director of the Sweetwater County District Board of Health, said they had 1,300 open vaccination appointments available Monday and said area pharmacies, such as K-Pack Pharmacy and and Pharmacy at Smith’s Food and Drug in Green River are offering vaccination appointments as well.
“There are multiple places to receive vaccine at this time,” she said.
Dr. Jean Stachon, the county’s health officer, said nearly 11,000 residents have received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, the number of vaccinations will likely increase as a single-dose vaccine provided by Johnson & Johnson becomes more available along with the two other vaccines.
Sweetwater County residents are also provided access to the vaccine sooner than other Wyoming residents, as the vaccines are not scheduled to be open to all residents of the state until April 11.
“Phases do not matter at this point in time,” Lionberger said.
With that, Lionberger said people who are unable to leave their homes can request a home vaccination visit as long as they receive a doctor’s order to have it done. People who schedule an appointment at a vaccination clinic can receive a vaccination in their vehicle if they’re unable to walk into the clinic.
While some may express concern about how quickly the vaccines were developed, Lionberger said a number of things occurred to speed up development in a safe manner, including a large amount of money and trials utilizing several thousands of people.
Dr. Stachon said the county’s infection numbers continues to decline, but remains at a higher rate than most Wyoming counties.
During a virtual COVID-19 update Monday, Steve Core, the chairman of the Sweetwater County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees asked Dr. Stachon her thoughts about the district in Pinedale voting to end the mask mandate within its schools and what her thoughts on the districts in Green River and Rock Springs following suit.
Dr. Stachon said Rock Springs students will continue to wear because infection numbers are so high, saying the board decided not to seek a variance. She said the first hurdle to clear for a county variance is to have infection rates in the “green zone,” meaning between nine and 19 cases per 100,000 population and a 3-4.9% test positivity over the previous 14 days.
Sweetwater and Teton Counties being the outliers according to data provided by the state, with Sweetwater County recording 260 cases between from March 4-17. She said she wouldn’t seek a variance until there’s a lower transmission rate.
While the state-recorded infection rate places Sweetwater County in the “red zone,” with 260 cases, the percent positivity recorded is on a downward trend. At Castle Rock Medical Center, Dockter said the percent positivity of the COVID-19 tests conducted is above 30%, but that’s due to tests only being administered to people already ill.
The decline in testing has resulted in Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County to cut back its swab testing hours in April.
“I’m really pleased to see ... things are moving as well as they are,” Dr. Stachon said.
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