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The US Covid vaccination effort is far behind original estimates. More than 15.4 million doses have been delivered to states, but only 4.5 million Americans have received their first vaccine according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Providence’s hospital system, however, defied the country’s slow-deployment trend and administered the first dose of the vaccine to more than half of its 120,000 employees in 51 hospitals in seven states.
Dr Amy Compton-Phillips, Clinical Director of Providence, told “The News with Shepard Smith” that “planning is the antidote to panic”. She said Providence began developing a strategy in September to identify caregivers most at risk and how to integrate technologies like email and text to streamline the deployment process.
She explained to host Shepard Smith that one of the solutions was to create a “validate and verify” tool to manage vaccine deployment at supplier hospitals. The tool contained the “roles” which consisted of specific jobs and it also contained the workplaces of those within the Providence system. People could then, in turn, reach out and validate the data.
“Because we did this, we really sidestepped much of the dismay you’ve heard from other organizations that have inadvertently, despite their best intentions, left out key groups of people who should be vaccinated.” , said Compton-Phillips. “So I think the biggest lesson we would have is not to hesitate to start doing something, some vaccinations are better than nothing. So ask your people, make sure you hear them, not just trust. to data. “
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has estimated that 20 million Americans “could” be “vaccinated by the end of December and 50 million” could be “vaccinated by the end of January. added that “we are planning” 100 million vaccinations in total by the end of February.
CDC officials attributed the slow rollout to complex vaccine storage, strained public health departments and health providers, and timing of the vaccination rollout during the holidays.
Federal authorities have placed the responsibility for implementing vaccination campaigns on states. On Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo admitted his state hospitals needed to administer vaccines faster and threatened with fines.
“Any supplier who does not use the vaccine could be fined up to $ 100,000 in the future, they must use the allowance within seven days. Otherwise, it can be withdrawn from future distribution.” , Cuomo said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a similar warning to hospitals and said the state may consider converting testing sites to vaccination centers. Gavin Newsom, Governor of California promised $ 300 million in funding for immunization efforts in its current budget proposal.
The successful deployment of Providence further identified areas that needed improvement. According to the Los Angeles Times, one in five frontline nurses at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Calif., Refused the vaccine.
Compton-Phillips noted that the hospital is located in an area that is more underserved and deals with a large immigrant community. She said Providence is trying to understand what the barriers to immunization are to better serve the community.
“We know there is a reluctance towards vaccines, especially in some underserved communities, communities of color who have less confidence in the health system, so we are working very closely with them to understand these concerns and we make sure we respond to them, so that we can really convince people to do what’s in their best interest, which is to protect themselves from this virus, ”Compton-Phillips said.
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