Delaware closes COVID waiting list

By Tim Mastro
Posted 5/7/21

DOVER — The Delaware Division of Public Health closed the state’s COVID-19 vaccine waiting list for new signups on Friday.

The DPH instead has a new website which shows available …

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Delaware closes COVID waiting list

Posted

DOVER — The Delaware Division of Public Health closed the state’s COVID-19 vaccine waiting list for new signups on Friday.

The DPH instead has a new website which shows available vaccination clinics and registration links at de.gov/getmyvaccine. It also includes appointment and walk-in information for pharmacies, medical providers, hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers, public health clinics and Curative Inc. clinics. Individuals may also call the DPH Vaccine Call Center at 1-833-643-1715 (option 3) for assistance in locating a vaccine provider.

The wait list opened on Jan. 20 and more than 200,000 individuals signed up. DPH’s Office of Emergency Medical Services, which coordinated drive-thru and other large vaccination events, used the list to administer almost 100,000 vaccinations. Curative Inc. also used the wait list to send email invitations to events at Delaware Technical Community College campuses, and has administered more than 55,000 vaccines.

The DPH said the waiting list was a necessary and useful way for getting then-scarce vaccine to those who needed it most based on an assessment of age and health conditions as the state began its vaccine rollout. It allowed appointment invitations to be prioritized first among those 65 and over starting in January, then those 50 and over in March, and lastly those 16 and over in April as each new phase of eligibility opened, the DPH said.

Recent multiple communication of vaccination events to those remaining on the wait list have resulted in few appointments being made, according to the DPH. The DPH said this indicates those still on the wait list likely have been vaccinated elsewhere.

“The wait list was a critical tool for allowing us to assess demand for vaccine and to match limited doses with those most at risk from COVID-19,” DPH director Dr. Karyl Rattay said in a statement. “Now that we are in a situation of more plentiful vaccine and open eligibility, we no longer need to screen and prioritize invitations to appointments, and we can focus on letting people know the multiple ways they can get vaccinated with or without an appointment.”

The DPH also has five clinics — at the Winder Laird Porter State Service Center in Wilmington, the James W. Williams State Service Center in Dover, the Milford Riverwalk State Service Center, the Thurman Adams State Service Center in Georgetown and the Anna C. Shipley State Service Center in Seaford — that have walk-in hours of 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:15-4 p.m. weekdays to receive a vaccine without an appointment.

Delaware has administered 793,148 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday at 11:59 p.m., using information via the state’s immunization data system DelVAX. A total of 358,398 individuals have been fully vaccinated in Delaware, including 322,357 Delawareans. Nonresidents can be vaccinated in Delaware provided they either work in the First State or receive their health care here.

An additional 111,664 total persons are partially vaccinated, meaning they have received their first dose of a two-dose vaccine series and are awaiting their second. Of those partially vaccinated, 100,886 are Delawareans.

The DPH is reporting 54.5% of Delaware’s age-eligible population, 16 years old and up, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Delaware’s seven-day rolling average of new positive cases of COVID-19 decreased to 196.7 new cases per day, as of Thursday at 6 p.m. It is the first time the daily case average has been below 200 since March 16. The seven-day rolling average was as high as 373.4 new cases per day on April 18.

There were no new COVID-19-related deaths to report in Friday’s update, according to the DPH, as that number remained at 1,629. Delaware has recorded an overall total of 105,775 positive cases.

COVID-19 hospitalizations remained unchanged compared to the day prior at 115. Of those hospitalized, the DPH said 12 cases are considered critical.

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