The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says it’s not true that federal COVID-19 vaccine reserves are depleted. The state says it will continue to receive doses as expected.
At a weekly briefing Tuesday state health officials dispelled rumors about the vaccine supply, saying the state is actually ramping up efforts to get residents their doses faster.
“There definitely has been a ramp up learning curve for providers into how to administer this vaccine,” Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said.
The state will offer new grants to help healthcare providers inoculate people more efficiently.
“That capacity is increasing quite rapidly now, and we actually expect that capacity to go well north of 20,000 doses a week,” Jeppesen said.
Governor Brad Little announced Idaho will also increase the state’s National Guard personnel from 250 to 400 to help distribute coronavirus vaccines.
The federal government is also slated to increase the number of doses sent to Idaho by 2 to 5%.
As of Tuesday, more than 10,000 Idahoans have been fully immunized.
Copyright Boise State Public Radio 2021
