SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — The ultra-cold freezer at UC Davis Health in Sacramento is ready to store Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. The first shipment is scheduled to arrive in Sacramento next week and Sacramento Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye now knows how much of the vaccine the county will get.
“We are still waiting on the final number but It will be about 15,000 for Sacramento in the first shipment,” Dr. Kasirye said.
To be clear, Dr. Kasirye said those 15,000 doses will vaccinate 15,000 people in this first round. The vaccination does require two doses per person. Those who received the first 15,000 doses will be administered a second dose in 21 days when more vaccines arrive.
“Some of it will go to UC Davis, some will go to the county,” Dr. Kasirye said.
The state is requiring the first batch of the vaccine go to health care workers on the front line. Right now, Dr. Kasirye and other health care professionals are putting together a list of people who will get the first doses.
“Right now we have a list of registered or licensed health care providers and that is the list we are working off,” Dr. Kasirye said.
At this point, individuals cannot apply or request the vaccine; hospital leaders will choose which staff gets it first.
More vaccines are on their way. It's expected pharmaceutical company Moderna will get approval for their vaccine within the coming weeks. That will allow other health care and essential workers in the county to be inoculated throughout the winter.
“We anticipate that early spring is when we will be able to make it available to the general public,” Kasirye said.
Over in San Joaquin County, the vaccine is also on its way. Monday or Tuesday is when San Joaquin County Health Officer Maggie Park estimates it will arrive.
Dr. Park said the first shipment for her county will be 4,875 doses. She was hoping to get more does this first round, but she says that’s not a request she can make.
“The state is allocating to us what they think we deserve to get as a county,” Dr. Park said.
Both public health officers say nothing is final until they actually receive the vaccine next week. The number of vaccinations and the locations where they will be stored could change.
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