DHHS, Local Health Departments Provide Opportunities To Vaccinated Individuals With Disabilities

DHHS, Local Health Departments Provide Opportunities To Vaccinated Individuals With Disabilities
Courtesy of Dept. of Health and Human Services.

LINCOLN – Health officials across the state continue to make sure every Nebraskan with disabilities who wishes to be vaccinated against COVID-19 has the ability to do so.

According to a release from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Nebraska DHHS and the Nebraska Association of Local Health Directors (NALHD) are leading the effort.

Local health departments have provided in-home vaccinations to homebound people – in some cases at the request of individuals or their families and in other cases working with social service agencies, healthcare providers (including visiting nurses) and/or rural emergency managers to identify homebound individuals.

Additionally, Nebraska DHHS teamed up with the Munroe-Meyer Institute, CHI Health Center and Community Pharmacy to hold COVID-19 vaccination clinics for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their caregivers/parents/staff in April. DHHS also partnered with Hy-Vee Pharmacy to hold two additional COVID-19 vaccination clinics for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers in Grand Island and Norfolk on April 9.

Other regional efforts have included partnering with transportation providers to offer rides to accessible clinic sites, proactively phoning identified individuals with disabilities to provide information and verify their access to the vaccine, providing escorts at mass vaccination sites for people with limited vision, reaching out to groups that serve and/or advocate for individuals with disabilities to enlist their support in publicizing vaccination opportunities and connecting people who need more help to their local health department and providing interpretation (including American Sign Language) at vaccination events.

Nebraskans, who are not yet vaccinated and who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activity, or who have had a history of such an impairment, are eligible to receive reasonable accommodations and should reach out directly to their local health departments.

 

Health Department contacts:

  • Central District – 303-385-5175 (Kamrie Peterson)
  • Dakota County – 402-987-2164
  • Douglas County – 402-444-3400
  • East Central – 402-563-9656 (Libby Finochiaro or Dana Spindola)
  • Elkhorn Logan Valley – 402-529-2233
  • Four Corners – 402-362-2621 (Tom Barnett or Laura McDougall)
  • Lincoln Lancaster County – 402-441-8065
  • Loup Basin – 308-346-5795 ext. 106 (Catie Larsen)
  • North Central – 402-336-2406
  • Northeast – 402-375-2200
  • Panhandle – 308-633-2866 ext. 101 (Kim Engel)
  • Public Health Solutions – 402-826-3880 (Kate Lange or Jackie Trojan)
  • Sarpy/Cass – 402-537-6975 (Marianne Toledo)
  • South Heartland – 402-462-6211 (Janis Johnson)
  • Southwest  – 308-345-4223
  • Three Rivers – 402-909-2178 (Caleb Kuddes)
  • Two Rivers – 888-669-7154
  • West Central – 308-221-6623

 

 

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