Washington begins to prepare for the arrival of the COVID vaccine in December

Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that his office has begun the planning process necessary to distribute a possible COVID-19 vaccine.

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Inslee had a phone call with Vice President Mike Pence on Monday morning, “talking about the arrival of the vaccine, which appears relatively imminent.” The current estimate given to the governor indicates that the first shipments could be available in “mid-December”.

To that end, the Washington Department of Health is asking hospitals and doctors to sign up as suppliers for the vaccine as an “important” first step towards preparing for its arrival.

Inslee reported that the state had already seen “a lot” of registrations on Monday, “but we need a lot more providers” to register in the coming days. Any supplier who signs up before December 6 could potentially be eligible to receive the first shipments of the vaccine.

“I continue to have a higher and higher level of confidence in this whole process,” Inslee said at a press conference Monday. “We had a detailed overview of the process this morning with the Vice President, and I see nothing that concerns me about the process that is followed.

“It’s a very good sign,” he added.

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Despite this, the governor also warned that there will be “fairly limited” quantities in the first few weeks when the vaccine is available. This will allow providers to prioritize who receives it first, starting with frontline medical workers most at risk of contracting the virus, as well as elderly residents of long-term care facilities.

Pfizer and Moderna are awaiting final approval from the Food and Drug Administration to distribute their respective vaccines in the United States. The Moderna vaccine was found to be around 94% effective in trials, while Pfizer had a 95% effectiveness rate.