DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Board of Health Met March 23.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT

Derryl Block, RN, PhD, President

Rukisha Crawford

Lorraine Daly

Carlos Dominguez, DVM

Erik Englehart, MD

Patricia Faivre

Jessica Harrill, JD

Paul Stromborg, MD

Anita Zurbrugg

BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT

Heather Breuer, DMD, Vice President

Lizy Garcia, Secretary

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT

Lisa Gonzalez, MPH, Public Health Administrator

Cindy Graves, RN, MSHA, Director of Community Health and Prevention & Health Promotion and Emergency Preparedness

Greg Maurice, LEHP, Director of Health Protection

Dytania Washington, MS, Director of Administrative Services

Chessa Kendrick, Administrative Support and Marketing Manager

CALL TO ORDER

The DeKalb County Board of Health meeting of March 23, 2021 was called to order at 4:32pm by Dr. Block, President.

VIRTUAL MEETING GUIDELINES

Mrs. Gonzalez provided an overview of guidelines for the virtual Board of Health Meeting.

AGENDA

On a motion by Anita Zurbrugg, seconded by Jessica Harrill, the Board of Health Meeting Agenda was approved. Motion carried.

MINUTES

Full Board

On a motion by Jessica Harrill seconded by Patricia Faivre the Board of Health Minutes of the Meeting for January 26, 2021 were approved. Motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

PERSONS TO BE HEARD FROM THE FLOOR (via Zoom) *

None

PRESENTATION

1. COVID-19 Situational Update

Mrs. Gonzalez provided a COVID-19 cases update. DeKalb County as of 3/23/2021 had 3,703 confirmed cases including 115 deaths. A chart showing the cases by week was presented. As of 3/19/2021 there were over 100,000 negative tests reported in the County along with a large percentage of individuals who were COVID-19 positive now reported as recovered. Ms. Gonzalez gave an overview of the current Region 1 metrics that are reported by IDPH. The region has seen 8 days of COVID-19 hospital patient increases.

Mrs. Gonzalez provided the overview of the updated Restore Illinois guidance entitled A Bridge to Phase 5. This plan was announced by Governor Pritzker and IDPH is considered as the fifth and final phase of the Restore Illinois plan. The plan would include higher capacity limits and increased business operations. Mrs. Gonzalez briefly described how the metrics will be used in decision making and also what could cause a region to move backwards in the Phases.

DCHD is still conducting case investigation and contact tracing efforts. Mrs. Gonzalez discussed the most current public facing metrics including percentage of cases attempted and interviewed along with their contacts. Mrs. Gonzalez informed the Board that DCHD was notified of a nocost extension of the IDPH Contact Tracing Grant which now goes until December 31, 2021.

The no-cost extension provides an extended grant period but does not allocate additional funding.

Mrs. Gonzalez provided an update on the usage of BinaxNOW Testing in DeKalb County. This is a rapid antigen test that was granted Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. The tests were distributed to local health departments to provide to partner agencies in the County. Currently, DCHD has partnered with one first responder agency, six school districts, and one congregate living facility to administer the test.

Mrs. Gonzalez updated the Board on efforts related to COVID-19 vaccination. She shared that currently an individual must live or work in DeKalb County to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from DCHD due to the limited supply. DCHD receives a pre-determined allotment by IDPH each week for 1st and 2nd doses. She shared that DCHD has held over 70 vaccination clinics including mass vaccination clinics and vaccination events for targeted populations. Over 18,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered by DCHD as of 3/19/2021 and over 4,200 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been transferred to partner organizations.

DCHD has primarily been administering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine but has recently received limited shipments of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. DCHD is expected to start receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the coming weeks. Moderna and Pfizer both required a two-dose series while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single dose. As of 3/23/2021, DCHD has been vaccinating individuals in Phase 1a, Phase 1b, and Phase 1b plus. On 3/22/2021, eligibility opened up to higher education, media, and government employees. On 3/29/2021 eligibility will open to religious leaders, restaurant workers, and tradespersons. The State announced that on 4/12/2021, eligibility will be open to everyone in Illinois.

Mrs. Gonzalez explained the weekly allocation chart displayed. This chart shows how many 1st and 2nd doses DCHD has been allocated to date including the total doses for the week. Mrs. Gonzalez stated that due to increased demand for 2nd doses in coming weeks, DCHD will have limited 1st dose appointment slots available. This may change if DCHD receives an increase in allocation of doses.

On Wednesday, March 17th, the Illinois National Guard (ING) was activated to support mass vaccination efforts in DeKalb County. The ING provides additional staffing resources and will allow for increased throughput once vaccine availability increases. The ING allows for relief for DCHD staff to help reduce burnout. DeKalb County is an ING supported site and not an ING mass vaccination site. The ING supported site vaccine supply comes from DeKalb County’s allocation and the ING provides additional resources. Mass vaccination sites supply comes from the State and not local supply and it is open to everyone in the State. These sites have additional reporting days/hours of operation requirements. The process for each vaccine clinic remains the same as check-in, screening, receive vaccine, and monitoring and observation.

Mrs. Gonzalez reported the most recent vaccine data that IDPH reports daily for DeKalb County. The most recent date shows that 10.77% of DeKalb County residents are now fully vaccinated and that over 30,000 doses have been administered to DeKalb County residents.

Mrs. Gonzalez summarized the current COVID-19 related challenges which included limited vaccine availability, inconsistency with allocation, high call and email volume related to the COVID-19 vaccine, delay in (or lack of) communication coming down from the state level and managing vaccine related misinformation.

Mrs. Gonzalez discussed the most recent grant DCHD received, the IDPH Mass Vaccination Grant. This grant is $315,000 and runs from December 1, 2020-November 30, 2021. $40,000 included in the grant is to utilized the State software for scheduling called EMTrack. The funding will be used for staffing to support vaccination efforts, contractual costs for NIU Convocation Center, Medical Waste Disposal, tablets, and medical/office supplies.

Lastly, Mrs. Gonzalez discussed what is next for the COVID-19 vaccination process. DCHD is anticipating local allocation of Johnson and Johnson vaccine in upcoming weeks. Vaccine eligibility will in Illinois will be open to everyone who meets age requirements on April 12, 2021. She indicated that DCHD continues to reinforces the message that just because eligibility is open to everyone, it does not mean availability and that vaccine supplies continue to be limited. DCHD will also be transition into the EMTrack appointment scheduling software. The benefits of this program include patient information automatically uploads into ICARE, additional funding provided by IDPH through the Mass Vaccination Grant to utilize the system, and the ease of scheduling second dose at first dose appointment.

COMBINED REPORT

As noted.

https://health.dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2-Minutes-2021-03-23-DRAFT.pdf