County has access to all three approved COVID-19 vaccines

WORLAND — On Tuesday, according to Wyoming Department of Health information, Washakie County was one of only three counties with zero active COVID-19 cases.

The other two counties with zero active cases are Weston and Niobrara.

Washakie County has had a total 704 COVID-19 lab-confirmed cases since the pandemic began over a year ago.

In the Big Horn Basin, Hot Springs County has one active case, as of Tuesday, Big Horn County has three and Park County has 10. (See the full list of active cases and total cases by county on page A2.

Washakie County now has access to all three approved vaccines — Moderna, Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) and Pfizer.

Washakie County Public Health announced that they have the ability to get the Pfizer vaccine if there is enough interest. Pfizer is approved for residents 16 and older.

Anyone interested in the Pfizer vaccine, which requires a booster, is asked to preregister by calling the Washakie County Public Health at 347-3278.

Moderna and Janssen are available during the Wednesday clinics by appointment. If people cannot come on Wednesday they can call Public Health to schedule another time.

On Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration lifted the pause they had in place on the Janssen vaccine.

According to a release, following a thorough safety review, including two meetings of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that the recommended pause regarding the use of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. should be lifted and use of the vaccine should resume.

The pause was recommended after reports of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals following administration of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. During the pause, medical and scientific teams at the FDA and CDC examined available data to assess the risk of thrombosis involving the cerebral venous sinuses, or CVST (large blood vessels in the brain), and other sites in the body (including but not limited to the large blood vessels of the abdomen and the veins of the legs) along with thrombocytopenia, or low blood platelet counts. The teams at FDA and CDC also conducted extensive outreach to providers and clinicians to ensure they were made aware of the potential for these adverse events and could properly manage and recognize these events due to the unique treatment required for these blood clots and low platelets, also known as thrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

The two agencies have determined the following:

—Use of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine should be resumed in the United States.

—The FDA and CDC have confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19.

—The FDA has determined that the available data show that the vaccine’s known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older.

—At this time, the available data suggest that the chance of TTS occurring is very low, but the FDA and CDC will remain vigilant in continuing to investigate this risk.

—Health care providers administering the vaccine and vaccine recipients or caregivers should review the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccination Providers) and Fact Sheet for Recipients and Caregivers, which have been revised to include information about the risk of this syndrome, which has occurred in a very small number of people who have received the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine.

As of Monday 24.7% of Wyoming’s population had been fully vaccinated with 32% of adults 18 and older fully vaccinated. For residents 65 and older, 55.3% have been fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated means two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of the Janssen vaccine.

Washakie County as of Monday had administer 183 Janssen vaccines, 1,374 second dose of Moderna and 1,996 first dose of Moderna. According to the Wyoming Department of Health, 25.6% of the entire population in Washakie County has been fully vaccinated, 32.36% of the population 18 and older has been fully vaccinated and 50.22% of the 65 and older population in the county has been fully vaccinated.

Hot Springs County statistics show 30.46% of the county fully vaccinated, 38.06% for those 18 and older and 57.35% of those 65 and older have been fully vaccinated.

Big Horn County shows 20.79% of the entire population vaccinated, 27.34% 18 and older and 51.99% of those 65 and older.