“This is not a blind, everybody-gets-a-shot approach. This is a thoughtful approach.”

Dr. Perry Jansen, medical director for Southwest District Health, a regional public health department in Idaho. The department’s board voted to restrict SDH from providing COVID-19 vaccines despite the vaccines’ medical necessity. The members in favor of the decision argued that people can get vaccinated elsewhere and that providing the shots was equivalent to signing off on their safety. At the Oct. 22 board meeting, there were more than 290 public comments against the vaccines. The board’s decision will block administration of COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties along the Idaho-Oregon border, including three counties in the Boise metropolitan area. Southwest District Health appears to be the first regional public health department in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. (Associated Press — Nov. 1, 2024)