Madison County Director of Public Health Toni Corona provided an explanation of how the Covid-19 vaccine will be distributed according to the federal priority list at last week’s Health Department Committee meeting, anticipating the general public to be offered the vaccine by early Spring.
During the Dec. 11 meeting, Corona said Madison County is one of 50 counties in Illinois selected to receive an initial allocation of vaccines due to the county’s mortality rate.
“I don’t know if it’s a good thing to be on that list or not,” she said.
As of Dec. 14, Madison County reported a total of 321 deaths and 17,536 confirmed cases. There had been 10 deaths and 185 confirmed cases reported on that day.
Corona said she does not know how many doses Madison County will initially receive but expected it may be a couple thousand doses in the first shipment.
She said the federal government has identified a predetermined priority list on how the vaccine will be distributed through Operation Warp Speed. The priority list is based on risk and exposure. Phase 1 will begin with healthcare personnel and long-term care facilities. Then the vaccine will likely be distributed to first responders, those older than 65 years old, and others based on vulnerability.
After the vaccine is delivered to Madison County, the doses will be allocated to the appropriate facilities in accordance with the number of people in line to receive them and the facility’s ability to deliver the vaccine. For example, if a facility has 500 people on the waiting list for phase 1 but only has the capacity to administer 100 vaccines in the necessary timeframe, the facility will only receive the number of doses it can handle at that time. Then the facility will receive more vaccines in subsequent shipments, and so on.
Healthcare personnel will be vaccinated from Madison County's individual hospitals. Long-term care faculty, staff and residents will be vaccinated through pharmacies that have already entered into a contract to distribute the vaccine to them. She expects this first step of phase 1 to take between four to six weeks to complete.
Corona said the general public will likely be offered the vaccine in early Spring 2021.
Corona explained that there are several different Covid-19 vaccines being produced, so the Health Department has to prepare scenarios for each.
“Understand this, there’s not just one vaccine,” she said.
However, Corona said the Pfizer vaccine is most likely the first one the county will receive.
The Pfizer vaccine is one of the vaccines that require “ultra cold” temperatures of between -60° and -80° C, she said. Not all vaccines require such cold temperatures. The Pfizer vaccine comes frozen and is diluted at the state level. Once it has been diluted, there is a five-day window to be administered. It can’t be refrozen, so the vaccine is wasted if it is not administered in the narrow timeframe.
Corona explained that day one is utilized for transporting the vaccine to the county. She anticipates the Madison County Health Department to receive the vaccine sometime on day two, leaving approximately a day and a half to effectively administer the vaccine.
She said the vaccines are packaged in “very sophisticated” packaging that is specific to the vaccine and will arrive ready to be sent directly to the facilities administering them. Madison County does have a special cooler on backorder to store vaccines if needed.
Corona added that in order to ensure that no vaccines are wasted, individuals on the list for phase 1 must schedule times to receive the vaccine so the process is done quickly and smoothly. They are also making sure individuals in tier two of phase one are ready to receive the vaccine as a backup so no doses are wasted.
“We have to be really smart and really agile and nimble to handle this,” she said.
Corona said the process of receiving, distributing and administering the vaccines takes a “large degree of collaboration” from hospitals, nursing homes and local law enforcement.
Corona also said some of the vaccines that could be distributed require two doses. Individuals who receive a vaccine that requires two doses are guaranteed a second dose. However, doses must come from the same vaccine. So if an individual receives a Pfizer vaccine for the first dose, he or she must receive a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
She said she does not know which vaccine Madison County will receive first.
“We will just have to wait and see,” she said.
Corona also encouraged individuals to “remain diligent” by maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, and staying home when possible. She said that although vaccines are being discussed, confirmed cases are still increasing.
Madison County saw a 470 percent increase in Covid-19-related deaths from October to November, she said. As of Dec. 10, Madison County has already had 42 Covid-19-related deaths for this month.
“It’s going to take a lot of work still,” Corona said. “We’re not done yet.”