By Tim Mastro

WILMINGTON — As Delaware continues to post its best COVID-19 statistics of 2021, the Division of Public Health is opening up vaccinations to more essential workers in the Phase 1B distribution group.

Vaccinations are ongoing for first responders, correctional officers, teachers, education staff, child care providers and poultry workers. In the coming weeks, the DPH will be moving into vaccination events for workers in food manufacturing, agriculture, grocery stores, public transit, postal service, higher education and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay said not all workers in these industries would be eligible for a vaccine in Phase 1B, just those who are considered frontline workers.

“We’re really focusing on frontline workers — people who can’t social distance with each other or can’t social distance in their interactions with the public,” Dr. Rattay said at the state’s COVID-19 press briefing Tuesday.

The expanded vaccination efforts come as Delaware recorded 99 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Tuesday’s report — the first time that number has been below 100 since Oct. 30. Delaware’s seven-day rolling average for percentage of positive tests is at 4.2% which is the lowest since Nov. 6.

The DPH reported an estimated 104,000 Delawareans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — about one-tenth of the state’s population. About 170,000 other individuals are partly vaccinated, meaning they have received their first of the two-dose vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna.

Seniors have been the primary focus of the Phase 1B distribution group and about 106,000 have received at least one dose.

The DPH is a little bit more than halfway through its vaccine waiting list as an estimated 71,000 seniors of the about 133,000 on the waiting list have been administered one dose. That total dose not include about 5,000 Delawareans who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine this weekend at clinics hosted by Seaford High School and the Delaware City Division of Motor Vehicles as that data has yet to be entered into the state’s immunization information system DelVAX.

Dr. Rattay said the DPH will continue to work its way through the waiting list in the upcoming weeks.

“We know that you’re there, we know that you’re getting tired of waiting on the wait list and we know we have individuals who are in their seventies still on the wait-list,” Dr. Rattay said.

“This is the time for us to really push and get vaccination opportunities for those on the waiting list and we’re really going to push hard for that over the next couple of weeks.”

An additional 4,400 first doses are planned this week by one of the state’s partners, Curative Inc., at Delaware Technical Community College campuses in Wilmington, Dover and Georgetown. These doses are appointment-only and are filled by contacting those on the waiting list.

Delaware Emergency Management Agency Director A.J. Schall asked those who do receive appointments to not share the sign-up links with others, which caused an issue this week where links were spread on social media, leading to some individuals under the age of 65 to register and then be turned away at the vaccination site.

“All that does is cause a snowball effect for those over the age of 65,” Mr. Schall said. “They are the highest risk individuals that we are trying to protect at this time. All we ask is that you honor the way the directions and reservations are sent.”

State officials are also asking if someone cannot make a vaccine appointment, or was able to be vaccinated somewhere else prior to their appointment, to cancel to open up a slot for someone else.

“We want to use all of our vaccine capacity to its maximum,” Dr. Rattay said. “We just want to remind that you when you don’t show up for a vaccination event, maybe you’ve been vaccinated elsewhere, please keep in mind you’re taking away a spot from somebody else.”

Delaware has received 304,660 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine directly while an additional 61,025 doses were delivered via the Federal Pharmacy Program. According to information in DelVAX as of Monday at 11:59 p.m., the state had administered 280,043 doses and has 85,642 remaining.

Of those doses received this week, 14,000 are going to hospitals and another 10,600 will be sent to providers and urgent care. An additional 7,500 doses from the state’s allocation is headed to pharmacies while 15,400 of the doses from the Federal Pharmacy Program will go directly to Walgreens.

Delaware also plans to vaccinate an estimated 8,000 educators, school staff and childcare workers at an appointment-only mass vaccination clinic at Dover International Speedway this weekend.

Gov. John Carney added that one-third of Delaware’s educators, school staff and childcare workers have been administered a vaccine. The state’s goal is to vaccinate all educators by the end of March, in accordance with directives from President Joe Biden.

“We intend to do the other two-thirds really quickly over the next couple of weeks,” Gov. Carney said. “By the end of the month, we will meet the president’s objective of getting educators fully vaccinated.”