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Santa Clara County leaders detail the county’s plans for distributing a vaccine for the disease at a Dec. 7 press conference in San Jose. Courtesy Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
Santa Clara County could receive the first 17,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc. as soon as Dec. 15 once the manufacturer receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration for distribution, county health leaders announced on Monday.
The first vaccines, which will be prioritized for acute-care health workers and residents of long-term care facilities, are not likely to cover all eligible recipients in either of those groups. The first shipment is expected to be followed by additional supplies in the following weeks, Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, head of the county’s COVID-19 testing task force, said during a press conference in San Jose.
Immunization requires two injections given a month apart, so the likely real number of recipients would be 8,750 people from the first batch. Pfizer isn’t expected to meet its original target goal this year due to supply-chain issues, but drug manufacturer Moderna Inc. should also receive FDA approval for its COVID-19 vaccine by next week. The company would then start shipping its doses as well, Fenstersheib said. He noted that neither Pfizer nor Moderna has approval just yet, but both companies are meeting with FDA officials. Pfizer will meet with the FDA on Thursday, Dec. 10 and Moderna’s meeting is on Dec. 17.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that the state expects to initially receive 320,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The county’s portion is “a very small amount and we expected that,” Fenstersheib said.
The vaccines require very low storage temperatures. Hospitals and the county are preparing to receive the shipments and the county Public Health Department has purchased freezers, he said.
Patients in skilled nursing facilities are being prioritized because they are the most seriously at risk. Although they make up 5% of COVID-19 cases, they account for more than 45% of the deaths, he said. The county plans to stick with state and federal guidelines for the priority of who receives the vaccines, but the county also plans to meet the equity requirements so those who are most impacted can receive the vaccine, he said.
The rollout of the vaccines is expected to be gradual and could take well into spring or summer 2021 to complete for all residents, he said.
Meanwhile, the public is urged to take safety precautions seriously. Dr. Ahmed Kamala, Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 director of health care preparedness, said the county has hit a record 1,450 new cases. There were 62 new hospitalizations on Monday and the county expects to reach more than 100 new hospitalizations per day in the near future.
“As of today, there are 50 ICU beds for a county of 2 million people,” he said, noting that number must serve patients with all afflictions and not just those with COVID-19. “Many hospitals have five or fewer ICU beds,” he said.
Hospitals are canceling elective surgeries and are looking to add additional medical staff to meet the surge. The county is exploring all possible sites where they could set up temporary facilities and are looking at their regional partners to help take care of any overflow.
He urged the public to do their part to “bend the curve” by wearing masks, washing their hands and limiting contact with others outside of their immediate household.
“We cannot do this alone. We need to redouble our efforts,” Kamala said.
Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.
It took less than 2 days for a significant adverse reaction that was not disclosed in the Pfizer research to appear in Britain. The story is by the Associated Press found here (https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-64ddccd70c38a39f880da27941db3540). It stated:
“LONDON (AP) — U.K. regulators said Wednesday that people who have a “significant history” of allergic reactions shouldn’t receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country’s mass vaccination program.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service in England, said health authorities were acting on a recommendation from the Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
“As is common with new vaccines the MHRA have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday,” Powis said in a statement. “Both are recovering well.”
Why wasn’t this identified prior to mass injections? Because they are RUSHING the process. In fact 50 million people have significant issues with allergies in the U.S. as seen here (https://www.aafa.org/allergy-facts/#:~:text=More%20than%2050%20million%20Americans,types%20of%20allergies%20each%20year.&text=Allergies%20are%20the%206th%20leading%20cause%20of%20chronic%20illness%20in%20the%20U.S.). Which is 15% of the country.
It looks like the “SAMPLES” of the Pfizer study didn’t seem to have these people in it, right? They don’t even know what causes this problem and what allergies
I hope the FDA takes this into account
WELL,
I just heard on CNN that the Pfizer research EXCLUDED anyone with allergies in their research. It is proven from Pfizer itself seen here (https://www.pfizer.com/science/find-a-trial/nct04368728-0).
Excluded people:
“History of severe adverse reaction associated with a vaccine and/or severe allergic reaction (eg, anaphylaxis) to any component of the study intervention(s).”
WOW, and Pfizer and the FDA is claiming this is a safe vaccine when it is NOT proven safe?
Mybe someone needs to ask more questions about this research?