UC San Diego Health Receives Nearly 3,000 COVID-19 Vaccines

Speaker 1: 00:00 Our top story on midday edition today is a hopeful day for the coronavirus pandemic in San Diego. The first group of frontline medical workers will be vaccinated with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. That group includes doctors, nurses, respiratory therapist, and others who are at high risk of coming into contact with the COVID patient. Joining me to talk about how the vaccine is being rolled out is Dr. Nicholas Holmes, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Rady children's hospital, where 2000 doses were just received today. Uh, Dr. Holmes, welcome. Speaker 2: 00:34 Thank you very much for having me, Speaker 1: 00:36 You know, the first vaccines will be administered beginning at two this afternoon. What kind of preparation is going into getting ready to begin vaccination? Speaker 2: 00:45 Well, the logistics for our preparation for vaccination has been somewhat complicated, but the team has done an excellent job getting us ready first and foremost, we have to keep track of every single person that gets a vaccination, as well as giving them the information about the vaccination. Because in about 21 days after their initial dose, they will have to receive a second dose. So all that information actually has to be uploaded into the federal registry, um, keeping track of vaccinations they're going across the United States. Speaker 1: 01:13 Um, and you know, the vaccine itself must be stored at very low. Temperatures is the training for giving this vaccine any different than say a flu vaccine. Speaker 2: 01:22 The training's not any different it's, it's the handling and the preparation, uh, following the manufacturer's recommendations, keeping it in the minus 70 degree freezer, again, falling into probably for about two hours and the reconstitution of the vaccine. And then the ministration is like any other, uh, vaccination that you would give Speaker 1: 01:40 The limited window between the time the vaccine is bought to the temperature where it can be injected and when it essentially goes bad, uh, that what's that timeframe like, and how is Rady working within it to ensure they can use all the doses in that window, which I believe is six hours. Speaker 2: 01:59 Yes, that's correct. It's six hours after the, um, the vaccines completely fought, uh, that and reconstitute that, uh, it needs to be used. So we actually have risk stratified, um, our staff, according to the guidelines from the local health authorities. And so we'll be going through each of the tiers, starting with tier one, a for those, uh, uh, staff that are had the highest risk of being exposed to a COVID positive patient or a potential someone who may have COVID COVID Speaker 1: 02:28 After you vaccinate staff, will you be a vaccination side for other priority groups or even the general public? And if so, how are you going to handle those issues with them? Speaker 2: 02:38 So if the County asked us to participate, uh, in that process, we will certainly be glad to. So our goal is making sure that the community is protected and so we will do whatever we can to help assist in that role. Speaker 1: 02:51 And there's been lots of polling done on how many Americans intend to get the vaccination is a it's hovering around 60% is really requiring its staff to get the vaccine. Speaker 2: 03:03 So we're recommending at this stage to get the vaccine we can't require and make it mandatory because again, the FDA has approved it only for emergency use, and each individual has to consent to use the vaccines. Uh, if in the future, if, uh, health authorities or whether it's the, uh, local health authorities or at the state or federal level, uh, mandated for healthcare workers, we will certainly be in alignment with what those recommendations are. Speaker 1: 03:29 Are you seeing people who are reluctant to take the vaccine Speaker 2: 03:33 So far? We haven't seen, uh, any reluctance, there are some questions, uh, especially for, uh, you may have heard certain individuals in England, uh, had a allergic reaction, what we call anaphylaxis, uh, to the, to the vaccine. And so we've had some questions about that. Um, but you know, we're fortunate to have Dr. John Bradley who's infectious disease expert, as well as Dr. Mark Sawyer, who actually is on the States, uh, uh, vaccine panel, as well as, uh, the, uh, FDA's, uh, vaccine panel as well. So we have some of the world experts here to answer those specific questions. And again, they have reassured us that it's safe and effective, uh, to combat COVID-19 Speaker 1: 04:15 Let me ask you personally, you know, how do you feel about getting the vaccine? Speaker 2: 04:20 Uh, I'm actually very excited and so I will wait in line, um, when it's my appropriate time, uh, according to the risk stratification, and I will certainly undergo the vaccine, because again, this is the only proactive tool that we have in our tool belt to be able to come back. Uh, COVID-19 certainly, we've spent a lot of efforts trying to, to contain it with, uh, PPE hand-washing masks, social distancing, but again, this is the only real proactive tool. So when I had the opportunity to receive it, when it's my turn, according to risk stratification, I will be taking the vaccine. Speaker 1: 04:54 And as I mentioned earlier, Rady received 2000 doses today. How many additional doses are you expecting? Speaker 2: 05:02 Well, that's a really good question at this stage. We don't know. I know governor Newsome announced that there will be some additional doses, uh, to the state of California from Pfizer next week. And so we anticipate, uh, again, uh, however, the, the local health authorities dictate what percentage or what amounts each of the acute care facilities receive. Um, we have estimated that we would probably need about 7,000 doses overall in order for us to be able to vaccinate, um, all of our healthcare workers. Speaker 1: 05:32 What does it mean to frontline staff that they'll finally have some protection against the virus? Speaker 2: 05:37 Well, I think it's, it's reassurance for them. Again, this is one tool for them. Um, all the things we've done so far have actually kept our staff and employees safe. And so, um, all of those things, we will still need to continue it, even though we have the vaccine, uh, this overall would decrease the relative risk of potentially getting it, but they will still need to continue to do the PR using the proper PPE hand-washing and, uh, all the other protective measures again. So it's just a, it's a tool for them to be able to do their job each and every day. Speaker 1: 06:09 I've been speaking with Dr. Nicholas Holmes, senior vice president, and chief operating officer for Rady children's hospital. Dr. Holmes, thank you very much. And thanks for what you're doing. Speaker 2: 06:18 Thank you for having us today.