By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission approved an agreement Monday with Big Creek Crossing for space for a mass vaccination clinic.
The site will be ready to vaccinate residents in phase two of the rollout when the county receives the doses.
However, Jason Kennedy, Ellis County public health officer, told the commission Monday he did not know when that will be.
"Unfortunately, as you have seen nationwide, the vaccine rollout at best has been flawed or slow," he said. "Ellis County has, unfortunately, not been spared from that."
The Ellis County Health Department received 80 initial doses to vaccinate health care workers and EMS staff. It received another 80 doses to give as boosters to those people who have received their first shots. Those shots will start to be given today.
To his knowledge, all of the health care workers in Ellis County who wanted the vaccine have received it.
Ellis County skilled nursing home residents who wanted the vaccine have also received their first doses. However, those in assisted living have not, Kennedy said.
"We have plans in place. We have people to do it. We have everything except the vaccine to start more widespread vaccine rollout," he said.
Kennedy said he does not know when Ellis County will receive more vaccine. He said he tried to obtain information from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, but had to seek help from Sen. Jerry Moran's office to get a response from KDHE.
The response was KDHE did not know when more vaccine will be distributed.
Kennedy said local officials have been told KDHE is not holding any vaccine. The doses are being shipped out once KDHE receives them.
In areas where counties were able to complete phase one of the rollout and had vaccine left, KDHE picked up those extra doses and redistributed them, Kennedy said.
"Unfortunately, I empathize with the public," Kennedy said. "We are doing our part. The county stands ready to roll the vaccine out. The health care community stands ready to roll the vaccine out the minute we get it."
The Ellis County Health Department has an online sign up form for people who wish to receive the vaccine. You can call the health department at 785-628-9440 to get registered if you don't have internet access.
A health care worker will contact you to schedule a vaccination, once the county has received more vaccine and has reached your phase in the roll out. Kennedy said the health department will be prioritizing people initially by age.
More than 5,000 people have already pre-registered on that site. Outlying clinics, such as HaysMed, also have their own lists, Kennedy said.
"I don't see us making it through our initial sign-up sheet any time in the near future," Kennedy said.
The county's number of positive COVID cases is decreasing. Ellis County is reporting about 10 positive cases per day. The county's percent positive remains at 13 percent. However, Kennedy said that rate reflects the county testing fewer people.
Vaccination site
Big Creek Crossing has offered the former Gordmans location on the north end of the mall for the county's vaccination site.
Big Creek is not charging the county a lease, only a monthly utility charge.
The site will remain empty until the county receives vaccinations and will run until the county sees a decrease in vaccination requests to the point those can be handled in the county's health clinics.
First Care Clinic is handling the logistical side of the vaccination site. Area health care partners are working together to handle staffing. The sheriff's office has offered a security detail for the site.
The county also received permission from the testing tent at the mall to give vaccinations there to people who have mobility issues.
Initially, you will need to pre-register to receive the vaccine.
Kennedy said health care workers will be able to initially vaccinate 30 to 50 people per hour at the site, but he said the site should be able to handle many more people once it is running at full capacity.
The process of being vaccinated will take about 20 to 25 minutes, because there is a 15-minute wait time to make sure someone does not have a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine. EMS will be onsite for standby.
Filing out the paperwork and receiving the shot will take about five minutes.
People who live in Ellis County will initially be given first priority in Ellis County. If at some point the demand by Ellis County residents decreases and the county has extra vaccines, Kennedy said he has no problem vaccinating people from out of county.
"We want to do our part to help out the community as much as we can," Kennedy said.
CDBG-CV grants
The commission approved $132,000 in Cares Act Community Development Block Grants for business in need of aid as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Six applicants were awarded economic development grants. The grant amounts were based on the number of people employed by the businesses. Thirteen $4,000 micro-grants were also approved.
The micro-grants were awarded to low- to moderate-income business owners. Five applicants did not meet the income requirements for the grants.
Funds must be expended by July 31.
Speedway lease
The commission also approved a lease agreement for the speedway at the Ellis County Fairgrounds. The RPM Speedway Board indicated they did not wish to continue its lease.
KLS Promotions of Saline County will promote the race track in 2021. KLS also operates the dirt track in Saline County.