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Alabama health officials learned Thursday that about 20,000 Pfizer vaccines due to arrive for next week’s shipment were not coming.
“There are clearly not enough products to circulate. It’s not as many as they expected, and no one has given us a proper explanation, ”Alabama health official Scott Harris said.
That means a majority of Alabama’s frontline healthcare workers who plan to receive a COVID-19 vaccine next week will have to wait.
“I saw a public statement from HHS that no one’s benefits were cut,” Harris told Al.com Friday morning. “It’s just not correct. They have been, so we don’t understand.
Alabama plans to split next week’s Pfizer vaccine allocation between nursing homes and frontline workers.
The Nursing Home Distribution Program is a partnership between the federal government and pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS. Doses from nursing homes cannot be delayed, Harris said.
“It certainly seems fair that we honor our part of this,” he said, “and we’re going to make sure they get their doses with this second allocation, even if it will reduce the number of doses available for them. the rest. of State.”
For now, that leaves just 3,000 Pfizer vaccinations statewide for frontline workers dealing with COVID-19.
Next week’s shipment is Pfizer’s second batch in the state. The first allowance was also reduced to about a tenth of what ADHD had initially hoped to receive.
Alabama also expects to receive 84,000 doses of a Moderna vaccine once it is approved by the FDA.
Moderna vaccine can be stored in a regular refrigerator. Once there, Alabama expects to have a vaccination site for healthcare workers in every county.
According to Harris, there are about 70 facilities statewide that have agreed to distribute vaccines, and 15 of them have the ultra-cold storage units needed for the Pfizer vaccine.
Frontline healthcare workers, residents and nursing home staff are the first phase of the vaccine deployment in Alabama. The CDC determines which group will go next, essential workers or the elderly.
Harris said the state had a solid plan in place to deploy a vaccine, but the reduction in shipments was creating confusion and last-minute delays.
“The less vaccine we have available, the longer it will take, obviously,” Harris said.
“The hardest part is probably dealing with people’s assumptions, once you have a provider who is ready to go and keen to get the shot,” Harris said.
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