First Missouri coronavirus vaccines could be given Thursday
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Missouri hopes to start vaccinating people against the novel coronavirus next Thursday.
Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, laid out the timeline in a call with reporters Friday.
Watch playback of a news conference with MU Health about the vaccine in the window below.
An FDA advisory committee this Thursday recommended the agency approve Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use. Williams said the state's timeline is conditional on that approval, which is expected this weekend.
Missouri is set to receive 51,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine within 24 hours of approval, Williams said in the call. That vaccine will go to 20 sites. Missouri expects another 105,000 doses of a vaccine from Moderna the next week if it wins approval, Williams said.
The first doses will go to workers in nursing homes and be administered by Walgreens and CVS pharmacies under government contracts. The Moderna vaccine will be used for nursing home residents because it doesn't require the super-cold storage the Pfizer vaccine does, he said.
Williams said the doses will provide an initial shot for most of the state's 58,0000 nursing home residents. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines each require two shots administered weeks apart.
Under the state's vaccine plan, nursing home workers and residents get priority, followed by health-care workers frequently exposed to the virus and people at high risk of the worse complications of COVID-19.
Williams said the head of Operation Warp Speed has promised 2 million doses for Missouri by the end of February.
University of Missouri Health Care officials held an online news conference Friday to discuss plans for distributing the vaccine. Dr. Laura Morris said MU Health's first doses will go to workers who have the most direct contact with COVID-19 patients and employees will be in tiers based on their level of virus exposure.
MU Health has drawn up multiple plans to be ready for varying numbers of doses and a yet-to-be-defined timeline, Morris said. The vaccine will not be mandatory for MU Health employees.
Bryan Myers, Executive Director for the Pharmacy and Lab Services at University of Missouri Health Care, said even if you take the vaccine you should continue to wear a mask, wash your hands, and social distance.
MU Health also said there could be some potential mild reactions from the vaccine, but nothing that could affect daily life.
"The potential side effects that we look for again are mild reactions, so local reactions and then mild systematic reactions that wouldn't keep a person away from work, family or any other activities of daily living," Morris said.
MU Health has already started to sign workers up for the initial doses, Morris said.
"We can see a light at the end of the tunnel this vaccine is fantastic news and our system is excited our staff are ready everyone is waiting for their turn, it's a great feeling to finally have some hope," she said.
Veterans Affairs announced Thursday that Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital in Columbia is one of 37 VA sites receiving the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Those doses will go to long-term care residents at the hospital and health-care workers, according to a hospital news release.
St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City plans to start vaccinating workers with frequent patient contact next week, Dr. Lenora Adams said on a Friday conference call with Cole County leaders.
