County: Don’t sign up for vaccines unless you’re supposed to

A link has been spreading around Kalamazoo by Facebook, email, and text messages that shouldn’t be. It takes people to a form where anyone can sign up for an appointment to receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from the Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Community Services (KCHCS).

The problem is that only frontline health workers and residents of long-term care facilities are supposed to receive the vaccine at this time. County health officials are asking people not in those groups to please not use the form.

Rules set by the state’s health department lay out who can get the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines, which are a limited resource.

• Phase 1A includes people in health care settings who have direct or indirect contact with people infected with the coronavirus, as well as residents at long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.
• Phase 1B includes frontline essential workers such as teachers and grocery store workers, as well as people 75 years old and older.
• Phase 1C includes other essential workers, people 65 years old or older, and people over 16 with medical conditions.
• Phase 2 includes everyone else.

We are still in Phase 1A.

“We are excited that the community is enthusiastic about the vaccine,” said Lyndi Warner, a spokesperson for KCHCS, in an interview with MLive. “We’re asking for patience as we move through the phased approach as outlined by MDHHS.”

It could be February before we move into Phase 2B and early summer before the vaccine is available to the general public.

You can read more here.