County moves into Phase 1c for COVID-19 vaccines

Vaccination pre-registration is now open to more Hot Springs County residents as our county moves into COVID-19 Vaccine Phase 1c. This makes the vaccine available to all residents age 50 and over. New medical conditions have been added as well. These are moderate to severe asthma, hypertension or high blood pressure, liver disease, overweight individuals with a BMI of 25 or higher and people who have Thalassemia.

Residents of congregate living settings have been added to include people living in dorms, shelters, group homes, and corrections centers.

People who are experiencing homelessness have been added to Phase 1c. If you know anyone experiencing this difficulty in Hot Springs County, please share this information with them. Insurance is not needed and vaccination is free.

Phase 1c has also added Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce. This workforce is comprised of 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks are considered so vital that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, economics, public health or safety.

The 16 sectors are: Chemical, Commercial Facilities, Communications, Critical Manufacturing, Dams, Defense Industry, Emergency Services, Energy, Financial Services, Food and Agriculture, Government Sector, Healthcare, Information Technology, Nuclear Materials, Transportation Systems, and the Water and Wastewater Systems Sector.

Many local residents do fall into these sectors. Food service, trucking, ranching, farming, oil, gas and many more. Find out if you fit at cisa.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors, click on your sector and then click on “overview”.

Pre-register at: https://www.hscounty.com/vaccine, or call the Wyoming Department of Health Pre-Registration Line at 1-800-438-5795. You may also contact Hot Springs County Public Health at 307-864-3311 or call Red Rock Family Practice at 307-864-5534. Any of the above options will place you on the one and only Hot Springs County list. Please sign up only once.

If registering by phone based on these latest additions, please mention that you are in group 1c.

You will be contacted by Hot Springs County Public Health or Red Rock Family Practice to book your appointment when it is your turn. How quickly you receive this call depends on the length of the list and your place on it.

The Vaccine Consent Form can be found at hscounty.com/vaccine by clicking the box in the top right corner. The form is also available in the alcove at Public Health, 117 N. 4th Street.

Follow https://www.facebook.com/hotspringspublichealth and hscounty.com for local updates.

Please wear short sleeves to your appointment.