Joint Press Release – February 10, 2021

Posted: February 10, 2021 at 3:17 PM in Covid

Immediate Release

February 10, 2021

Vaccine distribution plans for Winneshiek County:

Members of the Winneshiek County Covid-19 planning committee met and would like to announce plans on vaccine distribution to those 65 years of age and older. These plans change frequently, and the plan depends heavily on the amount of vaccine received weekly.

Please be assured that plans are in place for vaccination locations and staffing of those locations. Work will continue with the implementation of those plans with our local health care providers. However, the details of those plans are being released when we know the timing, amount, and source of vaccines to provide the most vaccines safely and efficiently.

We ask for your patience and understanding as we work through this difficult time.

We are partnering with the Winneshiek Medical Center, Gundersen Decorah Clinic, Donlon Pharmacy & Toy Jungle, Thrifty White Pharmacy, and the Walmart Pharmacy to better serve Winneshiek County.  Each agency listed below has developed internal policies so please read each one carefully.

Winneshiek County Public Health (WCPH)

  • WCPH will continue to focus on the Phase 1B tier groups that include Pre-K-12 school staffs, congregate settings and proceed within the tier groups.
  • If you do not have a primary care provider in Winneshiek County and you are over the age of 65, you may contact the Winneshiek County Public Health department at 563-382-4662 and be placed on the public health waiting list.
  • Withholding final details of plans allows for the entities to remain flexible in our response to the vaccines received. This protects the public from misinformation, outdated information or confusion when more vaccine becomes available.

Winneshiek Medical Center – Mayo Clinic Health System –Decorah, Ossian, Mabel

  • Patients who receive family medicine care at Winneshiek Medical Center with a Mayo Clinic Health System physician or advanced practice provider (nurse practitioner or physician assistant) will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at WMC.
  • Patients will be called by WMC staff when the vaccine is available for them, with instructions on the process and location of the vaccine. WMC will determine the order/timeline of vaccine distribution by following a standard COVID-19 risk score, based on information in the patient’s health record.

What patients can do:

  • If you have a MyChart account, please verify your contact information is current in our system through MyChart: http://www.winmedical.org/mychart/ (Note: A MyChart account is not necessary to be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine at WMC.)
  • Accept calls from Winneshiek Medical Center, as we may be calling to let you know the vaccine is available for you. (Note: Scam calls using WMC’s phone number do occur in our community. When calling to schedule the COVID-19 vaccine appointment, we will not ask for any financial information or your social security number. Do not give this information out over the phone, and if you are concerned, hang up and call us back at our main phone number 563-382-2911.)
  • Please do not call WMC to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. We will call you when the vaccine is available for you.

Gundersen Health Systems

  • Gundersen Decorah Clinic has received a small allocation of doses that they will be administering to patients that meet the phase 1B criteria this week and next week.
  • Patients that meet the criteria and are patients of Gundersen Clinic, will be contacted by the clinic to schedule.
  • It is important and very helpful to not contact Gundersen clinic to be added to a list.
  • We have a list of patients who meet the criteria, who we will be contacting. We are starting with our higher-risk patients over 85 years old, and then each week we will schedule additional patients as we move down the list, based on the amount of vaccine doses that we receive.
  • Please be patient as we are getting very limited doses and are trying to get them administered within a week of receiving them. You can find the latest vaccine information at org, including how you can prepare while you wait for your turn to schedule a vaccine appointment.

Walmart Pharmacy

  • Partnering with state and federal agencies as we await allocations
  • Building a new digital scheduling tool to make appointments easy
  • Stay up to date on how Walmart and Sam’s Club are supporting the vaccine rollout, visit corporate.Walmart.com/covid-vaccine

Donlon Pharmacy

  • Donlon Pharmacy will begin reaching out to patients who are over the age of 65 and who have received a prescription at our pharmacy in the last year to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Please do not contact the pharmacy to request an appointment.

Thrifty White Pharmacy

  • Thrifty White Pharmacy will be scheduling appointments online for the COVID-19 vaccine for eligible persons per CDC guidelines. We will follow state and federal guidelines on priority groups as we receive vaccine. Vaccine will be limited.
  • Appointments will open as vaccine is allocated to the pharmacy. Walk-in appointments are not allowed at this time.
  • All appointments must be scheduled at thriftywhite.com.
  • Appointments cannot be booked over the phone. Available dates and times will display for you to select online.

This will be a slow process; your patience and understanding are appreciated by all of the above partners.