JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) prepares to review Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, hospitals in Northeast Florida are prioritizing which healthcare workers will be the first to receive the vaccine in the case they don’t receive enough to vaccinate all willing staff members.
UF Health in Jacksonville is one of five hospitals in the state – and the only hospital in Northeast Florida – to be selected to receive and distribute Pfizer’s vaccine to surrounding hospitals. Part of the reason being its ability to store a large number of doses at the required -70 degrees celsius.
Chad Neilsen is an epidemiologist with UF Health and an assistant professor for the Department of Medicine. According to Neilsen, more than one doctor and patient have emailed asking when they can sign up to receive the vaccines from the hospital.
“We’re going to be receiving the vaccine at some point, in some quantity for us to not necessarily give it to people lined up outside our doors, but to distribute to other hospitals and healthcare agencies,” said Neilsen.
Among those hospitals is Baptist Health in Jacksonville.
The Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies have already identified healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities as the first who should receive the vaccines in phase one of the roll-out. But Dr. Elizabeth Ransom – the Chief Physician Executive at Baptist Health – says the hospital is also prioritizing amongst those workers in the case they don’t receive enough to vaccinate all their staff.
“We’re assuming that we won’t get enough to cover all 12,000 to 13,000 employees right out of the gate,” said Dr. Ransom. “So, we’ve done a more detailed prioritization, primarily, those who are working directly with COVID-19 patients we feel are the highest risk. Those individuals will be prioritized initially to receive however many vaccines we wind up getting.”
There’s also the growing concern of buy-in amongst staff – and the general public – in taking the vaccine, which requires not one but two doses to be most effective.
“I believe we have about 8,000 or so employees across both of our campuses, clinics. So, if you assume that every single one of those people is going to take the vaccine, you’re looking at two doses for each person, so 16 to 17,000,” said Neilsen. “Again, that’s assuming everybody takes it. What we know traditionally about the flu vaccine is that roughly 40% of the population any given year will take the flu vaccine.”
Neilsen says so far, its health system has not created any policy to re-assign healthcare workers from direct patient care if they do not consent to be vaccinated.
“Healthcare staffing is extremely challenging across the nation right now. So, we have to be sensitive to that and again, this is a new vaccine,” said Neilsen. “While I believe in it, and many of the folks in my hospital believe that this is going to be a great thing for our country and the world, we understand the hesitations and we’re not prepared to make this mandatory here at UF Jacksonville.”
Already, Florida’s Agency for Health Care administrations has issued an emergency rule requiring long-term care facilities to let authorized representatives tasked with conducting vaccinations into their facilities. Though, staff and residents can make up their own minds whether to take the vaccine.
Megan Kennedy is the Vice President of Operations at Starling, a company that runs several long-term care facilities across Northeast Florida. Kennedy says the company is still evaluating how it will handle vaccines amongst staff at the facility. Kennedy also says families are having mixed reactions to the idea of vaccinating their loved ones.
“I’ve had some families that are signing their loved one right up, and I have some families that are kind of still on the fence and are waiting to talk to their health care professional,” said Kennedy.
Even with COVID-19 vaccines on track to be distributed before the end of the year, healthcare officials are encouraging mask-wearing and social distancing until well-after the public has access to the vaccine.
“It’s such good news that we have vaccines on the way, but the virus is still here, and it will be awhile before all of us are vaccinated,” said Dr. Ransom. “So, it’s still really, really important for everyone to take precautions: be safe, wear a mask covering both nose and mouth, wash hands frequently and physically distance as much as possible.”