STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

GRAPH BY PAUL RIES

St. Luke’s Wood River will begin vaccinating teachers and child care workers today, along with the first responders and others who were scheduled to begin getting COVID-19 vaccines today.

And the hospital has scheduled additional clinics on Saturday, Jan. 16; Tuesday, Jan. 19, and Thursday, Jan. 21.

Idaho recorded 1,091 new cases on Wedneday for 152,364 all told as, Paul Ries notes, the trajectories of the state and Blaine and Twin Falls counties converged. Eight more Idahoans have died for a total of 1,564 deaths. Blaine County recorded 20 new cases for a total of 1,658.

Those eligible to receive vaccines in those clinics are:

First responders, including firefighters and police

Coroner and medical examiners

Idaho Fish and Game and USDA law enforcement officers

Adult and child protective service workers

Child welfare workers

Community food, housing and relief service

Pre K-12 school staff and teachers and daycare workers

Residential school or facility staff providing behavioral health treatment

Correctional and detention facility staff

Dentists and dental hygienists and dental assistants

Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and aides

Idaho National Guard

Only qualifying people within those groups should schedule appointments at this time. Those who schedule will be required to provide proof of their job through pay stubs, I.D. badges or W2 at their appointment.

Those who are St. Luke’s patients can schedule appointments online using myChart at mychart.slhs.org or www.stlukesonline.org. Those who have never used St. Luke’s services may set up myChart accounts by calling 208-381-9000. Those who cannot use myChart for some reason may call St. Luke’s Connect at 208-381-9500 to set up an appointment

St. Luke’s will schedule the same number of appointments as it has in vaccine doses so people are encouraged to check back if they don’t receive an appointment right away.

St. Luke’s relies on health districts for the number of doses it receives.

Idaho has administered 42,607 doses so far, with 28,016 people receiving at least one dose and 7,280 receiving two doses. So far, 336 have been administered in the Wood River Valley. About 75 percent of St. Luke’s employees being vaccinated, along with some residents and staff of local nursing homes.