By Tim Mastro

DOVER — The Delaware Division of Public Health continues to issue reminders for Delawareans who registered in the Vaccine Administration Management System to get their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

These individuals receive robocalls as reminders. Some might have already gotten their second dose but are still getting the calls because of a few different reasons.

If the second dose did not match up with the first dose due to conflicting information, if the second dose was administered outside of Delaware or if it was at a location which does not report their information to the DPH, such as Dover Air Force Base and Veterans Affairs offices. DPH spokeswomanW Mary Fenimore said the DPH has provided instruction to assist those individuals who are getting that notification to turn it off.

Ms. Fenimore said Delaware’s immunization information system, DelVAX, is audited daily to ensure accurate information.

There have been 1,113,896 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines administered in Delaware, according to data in DelVAX as of Saturday at 11:59 p.m. A total of 495,059 Delawareans are fully vaccinated, per DelVAX, with an additional 61,013 Delawareans partially vaccinated who are awaiting their second dose of two-dose vaccine series.

For all individuals vaccinated in Delaware, 544,824 are fully vaccinated and 72,184 are partially vaccinated. Non-residents can be vaccinated in Delaware provided they either work in the First State or receive their health care here.

Ms. Fenimore said DelVAX is connected with Maryland and Philadelphia’s immunization information systems as data from these systems are transmitted to DelVAX and vice versa. She said DPH is working with Connecticut and New York currently on a connection and is attempting to establish connections with other states/jurisdictions.

If an individual receives their first dose from a site in Delaware and then their second out of state at a location which does not report to DelVAX, Ms. Fenimore said, “We could contact the state in question to request the information, and then we can enter it into DelVAX.”

Delawareans vaccinated out of state are automatically reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which is why the CDC’s numbers are higher than the DPH’s. According to the CDC, 75.8% of Delawareans 18 years old and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The CDC data not only includes all Delawareans vaccinated out of state but also vaccinations done at VA offices and Dover Air Force Base.

While that data is not accessible through DelVAX yet because federal entities use different immunization information systems, Ms. Fenimore said the state is working on connecting all the different systems.

“We are in the process of working with the VA in Delaware to establish a connection so that doses that are given to Delaware residents at the VA would be submitted to DelVAX,” Ms. Fenimore said. “While we do not yet have the ability to receive reports from DAFB through DelVAX due to differences in our information systems, we are continuing to coordinate with the base to work to develop a sustainable connection in the future.”