Governor orders open scrutiny of vaccines
Gov. Brad Little during his virtual press conference Thursday. Little asked Idahoans for patience as he signed an executive order requiring more communication between the state, public health districts and health care providers amid both the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccine rollout. (Courtesy of Idaho Public Television)
Gov. Brad Little is signing an executive order to foster transparency showing when COVID-19 vaccines are distributed and when they are administered.
“We owe it to Idahoans to get shots in the arms of people who want it within seven days of doses coming into Idaho,” Little said at a Thursday press conference. “If it appears a provider is not administering their allocated doses quickly enough, we will step in to ensure they speed things up.”
The executive order, dubbed the “Transparency in the Administration of the COVID-19 Vaccine” order, calls for health districts and providers to regularly report the number of vaccine doses they have been allocated — in other words, how many shots they have administered — and how many doses remain in each district’s and provider’s inventory.
The thinking, Little said, is to ensure the COVID-19 vaccine is getting out to the public in a timely fashion.
“We will be able to see practically in real time the number of doses each provider has received, administered and has in inventory, to demonstrate our commitment to getting out vaccine doses as quickly as they come into Idaho,” he said.
The move comes amid a nationwide rollout plagued with problems. Most recently and close to home, a report from the Centers for Disease Control shows Idaho has received the second-fewest doses per capita in the country: The state's 10,300 doses per 100,000 residents besting only South Carolina.
In contrast, West Virginia — the nation’s leader in both doses received and administered per capita — has received 15,500 per 100,000 of its residents.
Little’s announcement also comes less than four days before Feb. 1, when Idahoans age 65 and over become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Little said the state receives an average of roughly 24,000 doses per week. Vaccinating Idaho’s senior population of more than 265,000 will take months, he said, along with collective patience as state health officials push the White House for additional supply.
"When it comes to our anticipated supply I want the people of Idaho to know we are pressing the Biden Administration to make sure Idaho receives more doses of vaccine as quickly as the supply chain can be ramped up," Little said.
The new information will be available online by Feb. 8 at coronavirus.idaho.gov.