FDA authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine; rollout to start next week in Missouri - Columbia Missourian

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Missouri health care workers could start receiving vaccinations for COVID-19 as early as Dec. 17.

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Friday night. Earlier in the day, Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said approval was expected on Sunday, clearing the way for the vaccine to ship early next week.

Missouri is slated to receive 51,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in this initial rollout. 

Williams also expects Missouri to receive 105,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine the week of Dec. 21. DHSS has allocated 70,000 doses to start the process of vaccinating long-term care residents.

"In one action, we will be able to vaccinate almost two thirds, if not more, of our long-term care facility population, probably starting Dec. 28," Williams said.

Shipments of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will continue to arrive in the next few weeks, and the DHSS plans to use these to vaccinate 300,000 nurses and doctors in Missouri. 

In total, Williams expects Missouri to receive two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by February. At that point, child care providers, teachers, first responders and other essential workers could start to receive the vaccine. 

As far as life going back to normal? For people who have had COVID-19, or have received the COVID-19 vaccine, "you still need to do the exact same things," Williams said. "You need to use hand sanitizer. You need to social distance. You need to wear a mask, and you need to still not congregate in large groups."

"I don't foresee that changing until July or August," Williams said. 

Truman Veterans' Hospital in Columbia has been selected as one of the VA’s first 37 sites nationally to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The hospital will offer the vaccine to its medical personnel and long-term patients first, according to a Friday news release from the hospital . 

Walgreens and CVS have partnered with the federal government through Operation Warp Speed to facilitate the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, especially to nursing homes. They will be instrumental in distributing the vaccine to the first group of recipients in long-term care, "no matter where they are in Missouri," Williams said, emphasizing access in rural communities.

Williams described the delivery process for the vaccines. One difficulty of the Pfizer vaccine is that it must be kept at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. The vaccines will be delivered in special containers designed to maintain the necessary frigid temperatures. The containers also have thermal monitors, which will signal if the cold chain is broken at any point in delivery.

Williams said hospitals and other workplaces are unlikely to mandate the vaccine because it will have been approved through emergency use authorization, rather than the FDA's typical, lengthier processes. The state has no plans to mandate the vaccine, the Missourian reported.

Williams also explained that the vaccine has not been approved for pregnant women or people under 16 — not because it may be dangerous for them, but because they were not included substantially in the original clinical trials of the vaccine.

Anthony Fauci, in a webinar Wednesday from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said reactions have been short-lived and include fever and soreness at the site of the shot.

Williams was asked Friday if he would get the vaccine. 

"Absolutely," he said. 

"We made a very conscious decision that we will get (the vaccine) in our turn," Williams said, in reference to himself, Gov. Mike Parson and other public officials.

But, he added: "I'd rather a nurse that works in Columbia get (the vaccine) than me." 

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FDA authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine; rollout to start next week in Missouri - Columbia Missourian
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