How distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine will take place in Kentucky, once it becomes available, was the topic of discussion before a legislative committee on Wednesday.
State Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack appeared virtually before the Interim Joint Health, Welfare, and Family Services Committee, and said the federal government has never moved this fast on vaccine development ever.
Written by Tom Latek of Kentucky Today
“This will be historic, if this all gets pulled off, from a new disease in January to vaccines being offered to people in December,” he testified. “There is no precedent in human history for that fast of a scientific development for a vaccine to roll-out.”
Stack told lawmakers the vaccine will be allocated in four phases, since at the beginning there will only be small doses of the vaccines available:
- Phase 1 starts with high-risk health workers and first responders, then moves to long term care centers and for people of any age who have comorbidity or underlying conditions that put them at a higher risk.
- Phase 2 includes teachers, school staff, and child care workers; critical workers in high-risk essential industries; those in homeless shelters and group homes for those with disabilities, and their staff members; people in jails and prisons along with staff; and all older adults not covered in Phase 1.
- Phase 3 includes children and young adults and other workers in essential industries not covered in Phase 2.
- Phase 4 would be everybody else.
Stack described a hopeful timeline on vaccinations. “I and others are hopeful that by summer of next year we will we up there in that state where we are able to vaccinate large numbers of people with relative efficiency.”
While expressing amazement at how quickly vaccines are being developed, Stack noted there are some challenges in the distribution. “The earliest vaccines will include one that has to be stored at -80 degrees Celsius, which is -114 degrees Fahrenheit,” he said.
Quick usage will also be a challenge, according to Stack. “Once the vial is tapped, some of them will inly be good for six hours. That means if you open a 100-dose vial, you had better be ready to vaccinate 100 people with that vial. Otherwise you will have wasted a supply of vaccine, after that timeframe. This means we will have to bring people to the vaccine, not necessarily the vaccine to the people.”
He says, “That will also mean reliance on large healthcare entities, such as hospitals, pharmacies, and perhaps some very large clinics.”
Stack says a number of the vaccines will require two doses to generate enough immune response, which means facilities will have to send reminders to patients to get their second dose, and to ensure it’s the same vaccine they used for the first dose.
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Written by Tom Latek. Cross-posted from Kentucky Today.