Olympic Times

City Of Port Townsend issued the following announcement on Dec. 14.

Enough coronavirus vaccine is expected to arrive at Jefferson Healthcare next week to vaccinate at least 450 people with the two doses required, following a distribution process outlined by the state Department of Health.

“We are expecting over 900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to arrive in Jefferson County the early part of next week…” Jefferson County Public Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke said at the Dec. 10 Special Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners and Board of Health. 

Locke said that Jefferson County Public Health and Jefferson Healthcare staff have been “meeting virtually every day to figure out the prioritization schemes and come up with a list. The hospital [in Port Townsend] is constructing an expanded drive-through system that will be multiple lanes and will be able to vaccinate people.”

“It’s an exciting and complicated endeavor and it’s just the start. We’re going to be very much involved in vaccination of what initially will be a vaccine where the supply will be far less than the demand. But eventually, that’s going to shift,” Locke said. ”By April or May we’re really going to be trying to promote this to the people who are potentially reluctant to be vaccinated. Because this is really the end game for bringing the pandemic to an end.”

While the federal government has issued guidance for coronavirus vaccine distribution, decisions are being made on a state-by-state basis, “not county-by county,” Locke noted.

The state Department of Health (DOH) has issued COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan which “you can tell pretty much what you place in line is,” Locke said. It’s an agenda item at the Board of Health meeting at 2:30 pm Thursday, Dec. 17. Dr. Locke can be expected to review the vaccine situation during his regular 9:45 am Monday appearance at the virtual Jefferson Board of County Commissioner meeting and on radio KPTZ.

Washington state’s initial allocation (62,000 doses, enough for 31,000 people, in the first delivery and a total of about 220,000 doses by months end) of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should be enough to supply the priority lists known as 1a and 1b, Locke said.

The DOH on Dec. 10 reported that about 183,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are also expected in December, pending FDA approval of the emergency use authorization. Regular weekly shipments should begin in January.

According to DOH, the objective of Phase 1a is to protect those at highest risk of exposure, to maintain a functioning health system, and to protect highly vulnerable populations, including: 

--High-risk workers in health care settings (clinical judgment should be applied to identify who is at greatest risk);

--High-risk first responders (clinical judgment should be applied to identify who is at greatest risk);

--Residents and staff of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other community-based, congregate living settings where most individuals over 65 years of age are receiving care, supervision, or assistance.

What about health care workers not on this 1a list?

“Given limited vaccine, clinical judgment should be applied to identify who is at greatest risk using the guidance … while recognizing that any workers in health care settings and first responders who are not prioritized in this phase would be considered critical workers in future phases,” according to the state DOH.

FIRST VACCINE

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is a two-shot vaccine that has shown to be 95% effective in randomized trials involving tens of thousands of people. The vaccine has been approved for use by Britain, Canada, Saudi Aribia and Bahrain. This vaccine is intended for people age 18 and older.

The US Food & Drug Administration could clear the vaccine for distribution at least by Saturday, Dec. 12. The US approval process has been more rigorous in an effort to build public confidence. An estimated 70% vaccination rate is needed to stem virus transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Once an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer vaccine is granted, the vaccine will then be vetted by the Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, as part of the Western States Pact. “This review should take 1 to 2 days and will occur while the vaccine is being processed and delivered, so it should not cause any delay in getting it out,” the DOH reported Dec. 10.

ULTRA-COLD STORAGE

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine needs special ultra-low storage, which Locke said is available on the Olympic Peninsula at the hospitals in Port Townsend and Port Angeles. According to the state DOH, locations that do not have ultra-cold storage capacity can still store this vaccine in the special thermal shipper the vaccine comes in. This allows additional sites to receive the vaccine as long as they can vaccinate at least 975 people in 20 days. “We are also working on a policy that will allow hospitals who don’t expect to vaccinate 975 people to transfer extra vaccine to other enrolled facilities,” DOH reported.

According to Pfizer’s “COVID-19 vaccine fact sheet,” the vaccine is delivered in a thermal shipper and on the receiving end, there are three options:

--Ultra-low-temperature freezers, which are commercially available and can extend shelf life for up to six months.

--The Pfizer thermal shippers, in which doses will arrive, that can be used as temporary storage units by refilling with dry ice every five days for up to 30 days of storage.

--Refrigeration units that are commonly available in hospitals. The vaccine can be stored for five days at refrigerated 2-8°C conditions.

After storage for up to 30 days in the Pfizer thermal shipper, vaccination centers can transfer the vials to 2-8°C storage conditions for an additional five days, for a total of up to 35 days. Once thawed and stored under 2-8°C conditions, the vials cannot be re-frozen or stored under frozen conditions.

Original source can be found here.