Hospitals in Washington are getting the vaccine now - but pharmacies are preparing to get their shipments in coming weeks. QFC and Fred Meyer pharmacies are finalizing paperwork to vaccinate people in the “1B” group – which includes essential workers like firefighters and teachers.
“It’s been just crazy, a lot of people are hungry for information,” said Chuck Paulsen, QFC Health and Wellness Merchandiser, who oversees QFC pharmacies.
Pharmacists and doctors across the country have been busy over the weekend, on Zoom and conference calls with the CDC, health departments, and Pfizer - which included going over very specific instructions on how to handle the new vaccine.
“This is historic,” Paulsen said.
The shipments are expected to come as early as January.
QFC could receive either Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccine, depending on the FDA’s authorization for Moderna’s. Washington State Department of Health (WaDOH) said it’s expecting a much larger initial shipment of the Moderna vaccine – about 182,000 doses compared to 62,000 of the Pfizer vaccine.
QFC is making sure they’re good to go for either.
“What do is making sure our facilities are able to handle the vaccine, making sure all of our monitoring systems are up to specs,” Paulsen said.
They’re still working with WaDOH to iron out a system to ensure only people in the correct groups are signing up for the vaccine.
“But quite frankly that still remains to be seen and vetted,” Paulsen said.
The CDC says Group 1a is hospital workers and people at long term care facilities. Group 1b is essential workers, and 1c is adults 65 and older, plus certain adults with high-risk medical conditions.
Another challenge for pharmacies will be the cold temperatures required for Pfizer’s vaccine. Unlike major hospitals like UW Medicine, which have special freezers that reach -70 degrees Celsius, QFC pharmacies and smaller hospitals will rely on the special shipping containers the vaccine comes in.
“There is also going to be a pelletized dry ice receptacle that will last roughly 20 days,” Paulsen said. He said the container it comes in can be “recharged” or refilled with pellet ice twice, and each container holds 975 doses of the vaccine.
Pharmacists will also get specialized training to prepare the vaccine, though administering the shot itself will be standard.
“This is such a precious resource that there is a lot of concern about doing it wrong. Thawing it wrong, mixing it wrong, it has to be diluted, it’s pretty technical in its administration,” said Cassie Sauer with the Washington State Hospital Association, during a Zoom press conference Monday.
“We’re going to learn a lot and we’re certainly going to do all we can do to make sure people get immunized safely, effectively,” Paulsen said.