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Seven California hospitals will be among the first in the United States to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.
Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; Mercy Medical Center, Redding; Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego; UCD Health, Sacramento; UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco; Valley Children’s Healthcare, Madera; and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital are on a list provided by the California Department of Public Health.
The United States Food and Drug Administration will consider this month allowing emergency use of two vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna.
Pfizer’s vaccine should be available first and should be stored in freezers at very low temperatures and at sites identified by the state that could provide a cold room, according to a statement from the California Department of Health. In addition, they chose sites that had the “highest risk” healthcare population, were willing to distribute the vaccine outside of their facility and network, and were geographically distributed statewide as much as. possible.
The health department said the list could grow as more hospitals meet the ultra-cold capacity criteria.
The federal government has asked hospitals for “pre-positioning” to distribute the vaccine and the health department said, “With or without pre-positioning, we will effectively distribute the vaccine to our health authorities and hospitals first. premises, and later to more sites, “the department said in a statement.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday the state would receive 327.00 doses of the new Pfizer vaccine in mid-December. Health workers will be the first to receive vaccinations. The Pfizer vaccine requires two injections. As a result, shots will be rationed in the early stages.
“Mass vaccination is unlikely to happen anytime soon,” Newsom said at a recent press briefing. “March, April, June, July, that’s where we start to evolve.”
The exact timing of Pfizer’s first allocation is unknown, but is expected before the end of December.
“Our goal is to start the first shipment as quickly as possible, possibly within hours of receiving authorization or approval from any regulatory agency,” said Francesca Marzullo, director of Pfizer Global Supply Communications. “In some countries, health authorities may also issue vaccine recommendations immediately before distributions. We can only supply countries after regulatory authorization or approval is granted, and we will deliver vaccine doses to each country in a robust process, in accordance with supply agreements we have with individual countries. “
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