LEXINGTON, Ky. — UK HealthCare will soon receive 1,950 doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine following a trial run this week.
What You Need To Know
- One hospital in Lexington underwent a vaccine distribution trial run this week
- UK HealthCare is set to receive 1,950 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 15, one of only 11 locations in Kentucky
- Pfizer's vaccine is a two-parter — patients must return after 21 days for a second booster shot
- Kentucky should receive both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the month of December
The first vaccines, which also require a booster shot after about 21 days, will go to health care workers dealing directly with COVID-19 patients and hospital wings.
“It is still a ways to go but we’re excited about this phase where we’ll be able to start vaccinating our high-risk individuals, our high-risk employees,” said Dr. Mark Newman, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at the University of Kentucky.
UK HealthCare will receive the vaccines as early as Dec. 14, according to Chief Pharmacist Philip Almeter. The hospital in Lexington is one of 11 across the state who will receive the first shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine, pending approval of an emergency use authorization order by the FDA. A vote is scheduled Dec. 10.
Almeter says the hospital started preparing in September by ordering more freezers capable of handling Pfizer’s vaccine since it needs to be kept in extreme cold.
The hospital was picked by state and federal officials for a trial distribution run this week.
“We said we’d be happy to participate and it went pretty smooth,” Almeter said. “We didn’t have any hiccups that occurred.”
The trial run started Monday when the hospital ordered the mock vaccine and vaccine kits. On Thursday, the orders came in, which included a temperature probe to keep real-time data throughout the shipping process.
The trial also tested Tiberius, the country’s new vaccine tracking system.
“We are learning a lot more about how to logistically offer this on a larger scale so that when it starts opening up to patients that are high risk, we will be able to scale up access to those who need it the most,” Almeter said.
Almeter said the hospital has capacity to handle 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine despite difficulties with storage, but Newman warned that capacity won’t be tested for a while.
“Early on, the numbers or the amount of the vaccine is going to be small compared to the need, so we’re going to be building this slowly over time,” Newman said.