Health dept., hospital hope to have COVID vaccine by Christmas

The COVID-19 vaccine will be on it’s way to Butler County soon, possibly before Christmas.

Butler County Emergency Management Director Robbie Myers said the FDA advisory panel recommended the Moderna vaccine for the area Thursday.

Myers added, “hopefully, sometime today (Friday) or over the weekend, the full FDA approves it.”

“In our area, we’re counting more on the Moderna, simply because it’s a higher temperature at which it has to be stored,” Myers said. “It just makes more sense for our facilities or health department and other health care facilities to be able to store it, than the Pfizer vaccine.”

“We’re hopeful we will have it here in our community before Christmas and be able to start administering it,” said Myers, while explaining there “obviously is a lot of moving parts, but all signs look like that could very well happen.“

Once the shipments start arriving, Myers added, “everyone is hopeful to get the vaccine distributed to all those in health care before moving to the next phases.”

Butler County Health Center Director Emily Goodin said the health center has filed for emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine and has placed an order for the drug.

If the health center receives approval, Goodin said, it will have to follow guidelines for Tier 1A, which requires dispensing to health care providers, including doctors, nurses and health care workers. They have contacted doctors’ offices to see who might be interested in taking the vaccine. These workers will have their vaccinations at the health center.

“We don’t know if we are getting any, but the state will not be able to tell us until it is shipped,” Goodin said.

Goodin plans to work with health care providers. Myers said the federal government contracted with pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS, to be the depository of the Pfizer vaccine and to get those out to long-term care facilities, and nursing homes. Other pharmacies also could participate.

Myers said there was a process pharmacies had to fill out. Nationwide, those two are the big players to which the vaccine is being distributed to take care of the long-term care facilities.

The VA is getting its own shipments, he said.

The Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center is expecting to receive its own shipment within the next week, according to Dawn Marshall, Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center’s director of marketing and community relations.

“The state has told us we can expect to receive our initial allotment within the next week. We are in the process of finalizing our plans to vaccinate our employees and medical staff members,” she said. “Because our hospital will receive a limited supply of the vaccine initially, we anticipate the first to receive vaccination will be health care personnel who provide direct care to the most vulnerable populations.

“In their line of work, they have a high likelihood of contact with COVID-positive patients and those who are integral to health care structure and the response to the pandemic.”

Myers explained there are “lots of different players and moving parts. We’re just trying to get everyone to work together, so those who want to get the vaccine will be able to take it.”

Myers stressed, “no one’s mandating that anyone take the vaccine at this point in time. We don’t want anyone to be confused about that.”

Myers said, “we’re still hopeful we can get some of that done before Christmas, or we’re very optimistic that we should be able to have a decent number done by the end of the year.”

“We’re still a ways from getting to where the public will be part of it,” he said. “When we get to that phase, hopefully, everything remains on target. There’s a lot more vaccines in testing. So, there will be more than just these two available at some point.”

The high risk population may be offered the injection before the general population.

“Hopefully, we’re talking February or March,” Myers said, “Nationwide, they talked about everybody wanting it, and if everything goes right, it could be spring.

“The good news is we got one approved; it’s in the region and getting that out now to the others. Then, the second one, when it’s approved, which we believe is imminent. We believe the first one will be in our community next week. Not just in the region, but actually here in Butler County is what we’re hopeful for.”

Myers said, “People need to know the process is going. We need patience, but not to let your guard down doing all the other things that we’ve been going through the past few months. There is light at the tunnel and we can see it fairly brightly now. As these vaccines become more readily available, we’ll be that much closer to being on the other side of this.”

Until then, Myers said, remember to wear masks, wash hands often and follow social distancing guidelines.

Butler County Health Center has listed information about both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine on its website and Facebook page.