STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

GRAPH BY PAUL RIES

Those living in congregate living settings should be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine now, regardless of age distribution or medical condition, the Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory committee says.

The CVAC recommended to Gov. Brad Little that the following settings be included:

• Emergency shelters and transitional housing if not already included (e.g., domestic violence and abuse shelters)
• Dormitory housing for workers
• Correctional and detention facilities (adult)
• Group housing for persons in substance misuse treatment or recovery or with mental illness who do not require hospitalization. That includes Supportive Housing and Innovative Partnerships [SHIP] and transitional housing.
• Residential treatment or recovery facility
• Dormitory housing for students

The Vaccine Committee voted against prioritizing the following types of workers for COVID-19 vaccine and instead make them eligible based on age and medical condition:

• Restaurant and bar workers
• Airport workers
• Banks and other financial services
• Idaho tax commission employees
• Idaho power workers – subset/outdoors.

Everyone 55 and older is now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Those between the ages of 45 and 54 with underlying health conditions will become available on Monday, March 29. The remainder in that age group will become eligible April 5.

All Idahoans 16 and older will be eligible for a vaccine by April 26. So far, 17.1 percent of the population is completely vaccinated and 27.3 percent have received at least one dose.

IDAHO GETS MORE VACCINE

Idaho is now getting between 85,000 and 90,000 doses of vaccine a week. And that number is expected to double in April.

The state has 450 providers dispensing the vaccine.

To date 382,230 Idahoans have received at least one dose of vaccine; 239,560 are fully vaccinated.

So far, 63.7 percent of those 65 and over have been vaccinated.

PROTECTING AGAINST VARIANTS

Vaccines appear to protect well against the variant documented in the UK. And that’s good as the B.1.1.7 variant appears to have a 64 percent increased risk of death. The variant is believed to attribute  for 20 to 30 percent of the infection in the country, and that percentage is growing.

INCENTIVES FOR VACCINES

Not only will Disneyland reopen in April but the Royal Caribbean is staging week-long summer cruises to the Bahamas and Mexico—only for those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

And Krispy Kreme has announced they will give everyone with a Vaccine Card a free donut between now and the end of 2021. Krispy Kreme, Target, Dollar General and others are allowing employees time off to get vaccinated.

IF ENOUGH OF US GET VACCINATED…

Once most adults have been rendered immune after being exposed to the natural infection or vaccination, the virus will beno more of a threat than the common cold, according to a new study published in Science. Children will be challenged by it, as they are by all pathogens that are new to their bodies. But it’ll likely result in the sniffles or no symptoms at all.