Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution to Prioritize High-Risk Individuals
Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday said the vaccine will be provided to all individuals without charge through a three-phase process that prioritizes high-risk individuals in health care and congregate care settings.
"The timeline and the estimated quantities of vaccine available to Massachusetts will depend on several variables, this age when the vaccine becomes available to the public under the age of 65 is still months away," he said.
Distribution will also depend on approval through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
"Our plan hinges on the FDA's emergency-use authorization for a vaccine, which seems imminent for Pfizer and Modern," the governor said. "As soon as that's done and as soon as the shipment starts to come, we'll move quickly to distribute the first dose."
• Phase 1 of the distribution will focus on, in order: Health-care workers doing direct and COVID-facing care; long-term care facilities, rest homes and assisted living facilities; police, fire and emergency medical service: congregate-care settings (including shelters and corrections); home-based health-care workers; health-care workers doing non-COVID facing care.
• Phase 2, expected to begin in February, in order: Individuals with two or more co-morbidities, so at high-risk; early education and K-12 staff; and transit, grocery, utility, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works and public health workers; adults 65 and older; and individuals with one co-morbidity.
• Phase 3 will be the general public, expected to start in April.
Communities of color and at-risk populations are prioritized throughout the process, said officials, to maximize life preservation and to prevent serious complications from COVID-related illnesses.
Of the first 300,000 doses, 164,000 are committed to health-care workers (both clinical and non-clinical); 64,000 to first-responders and 102,000 to congregate care centers and staff.
The first vaccine order will be shipped to hospitals that have the ultra-cold storage or access to dry ice required to store the vaccine; from there they will be distributed to 74 hospitals across the state. The next delivery of 40,000 will be to the Federal Pharmacy Program to begin vaccinating staff and residents of skilled nursing facilities, rest homes and assisted living residences.
"The hospitals selected that will directly receive the first doses directly from Pfizer are those who have access to ultra-cold freezer storage, the ability to maintain the vaccines at minus-70 degrees Celsius and they've indicated they have the capacity and staffing to administer at least 975 doses, which is the minimum allotment of vaccine within two weeks, and they can serve each other regions across the Commonwealth," said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders.
"Our hospitals are ready, as Massachusetts receives additional quantities of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the coming weeks the list of our provider sites will obviously greatly expand and all vaccinating providers will be receiving guidance about training, storage, handling of vaccines and the timing receipt of their doses."
Dr. Paul Biddinger, chairman of the governor's COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group, said the group is closely watching the results in England, where the first Pfizer/BioNTech vaccinations began.
"I believe the data from what happened in the UK will be evaluated by the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee tomorrow," he said, noting that the "small incidence" of allergic reactions seen so far had also been noted in the trials. "What still bears watching is whether there's a statistical significance, whether this is more than what occurred with the placebo or with other vaccines or other other therapeutics."
Responding to questions about reaching herd immunity and "getting back to normal," Biddinger said the majority of the population has to get to effective immunity.
In the meantime, the population should continue the pandemic guidance already in place — masking, social distancing and sanitation protocols stressed by state officials.
"Definitely more than I would say 60 percent is where the models are but from our perspective as a committee, we want everyone to get it," he said. "That's how we will protect lives throughout the rest of this pandemic. ...
"I think so much of this depends on sufficient levels of community vaccination so I think people should expect that we all have to be following the guidance, that's been so well stressed today, for some time until we get large numbers of the community vaccinated."
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