United Memorial Medical Center on Monday received 200 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Frontline healthcare workers began getting shots of the new vaccine Monday afternoon, said Dr. Joseph Varon, the hospital’s chief medical officer who was the first to get the shot among his staff.
The shipment contained the first vaccines to arrive at the medical center, which did not receive any doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
“It was a good feeling,” said Varon of the vaccine’s arrival. “It was also difficult, though, having to choose who will get it because it is limited.”
COVID unit nurses, ER staff and ancillary service providers were among the first frontline workers chosen to receive it.
Shipments of the Moderna vaccine were delivered to 20 Texas hospitals Monday, said Douglas Loveday, press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services. The new vaccine received emergency authorization to be rolled out to the public by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday.
This week, Houston hospitals will receive 3,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, according to the Houston Health Department. It will be distributed to healthcare workers, in accordance with Texas Department of State Health Services guidelines.
“There is hope on the horizon with the approval of a vaccine and its arrival to Houston Hospitals,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said of the news.
More than 1,100 healthcare providers in the state on Tuesday are expected to get shipments of the new vaccine on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Loveday said his agency was told by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
This week’s allocation was based on geographic needs, said Loveday, and areas that may not have received vaccines last week were included.
The Moderna vaccine ships in smaller quantities, with a minimum of 100 doses compared to the Pfizer vaccine’s minimum of 975.
The Moderna vaccine is also easier to store than the Moderna vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine must be kept frozen at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, while the Moderna vaccine will last at 40 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 days.
Both of those factors make the Moderna vaccine a “great option for smaller providers,” said Loveday.
Though the vaccines represent the beginning of the end of the pandemic, Varon said it’s not over yet. Because the vaccine only prevents serious illness from COVID, but does not prevent transmission of the virus, those who get it must still wear masks and practice social distancing. At least 60 percent of the population must be vaccinated to achieve community immunity, accord to Varon.
“I tell people to be cautiously optimistic that there is an end in sight,” he said. “But it’s going to take us months to get there and we cannot drop our guard now.”
hannah.dellinger@chron.com
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December 22, 2020 at 09:03AM
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United Memorial Medical Center gets first shipment COVID vaccines - Houston Chronicle
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