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UC San Francisco is one of seven California hospitals chosen by the state’s public health department to be among the first in the world to rapidly distribute Pfizer’s COVID-190 vaccine. Healthcare workers and first responders will be the first to receive vaccinations amid a pandemic that has changed life as we have known it since March. (The department did not respond to a request for a list of the other six hospitals before this article was published.)
The cogs are already rolling at the public research university where a working group of clinical and pharmaceutical experts have worked with state public health officials to plan the distribution of any vaccines or therapeutics. safe and effective, according to a statement from UCSF.
The exact timing of the first allocation is unknown, but UCSF said it plans to start administering the Pfizer vaccine as early as December.
Pfizer said its early distribution contracts are with governments and the first vaccines will be allocated through country and state preferred channels and designated vaccination locations.
“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 approval 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. “
In recent weeks, Pfizer and Moderna announced that the COVID-19 vaccines they had developed were found to be 95% and 94.5% effective, respectively, in phase 3 human trials. Pfizer last week applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency clearance to begin distributing its vaccine, and Moderna is expected to do the same every day. Federal officials say the first doses will be shipped within a day of clearance.
This week, AstraZeneca became the third vaccine maker to say initial data indicates their vaccines are highly effective. AstraZeneca said on Monday that late stage trials have shown its vaccine to be very effective and that, unlike others, this vaccine does not need to be stored at freezing temperatures, making it potentially less expensive. and easier to distribute.
California Governor Gavin Newsom told a press conference Monday that the state is preparing for delivery and distribution, but general public availability was still several months away.
“Mass vaccination is unlikely to happen anytime soon,” Newsom said. “March, April, June, July, that’s where we start to evolve.”
The state has launched a community advisory committee made up of community groups, school leaders, and nonprofits to advise on distribution and allocation. A Phase 1a allocation project, targeting 2.4 million healthcare workers statewide, is expected on December 1.
Then, the committee will look at the allocation of vaccines to people in collective care, medically vulnerable medical first responders and those involved in the security infrastructure.
“The first round of vaccinations will be extremely limited,” Newsom said. “We start with a framework of scarcity”.
SFGATE has contacted the California Department of Public Health for a list of the seven state hospitals that will be the first to issue the vaccine. The story will be updated when we receive this information.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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