Frontline workers from hospitals in the Philadelphia region would be first receivers of the COVID-19 vaccine once it got the green light from the Food and Drug Administration. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health will receive an allocation of vaccines from the federal government and will distribute the number of doses to hospitals in the city.
According to a WHYY report, the same will happen at the state level for hospitals outside the city. Health systems such as Einstein Medical and Jefferson Health, which have campuses in both Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, will coordinate between the city and state.
With emergency use authorization likely coming soon, that should be happening very soon.
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No hospital expects to receive enough doses to vaccinate its entire workforce in the first shipment, so it must create levels to prioritize its staff.
Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health has recommended that hospitals give first dibs to health care workers who have the highest risk exposure to COVID-19-positive people, but how each institution defines that is up to the individual hospital.
James Garrow, spokesperson for the city’s Health Department, said the number of 975-dose vaccine shipments were nicknamed “pizza boxes” for their shape.
Einstein Medical Center expects to receive a total of four “pizza boxes” in this first round , two for its Philadelphia campus and one each for Einstein Montgomery County in East Norriton and Einstein Elkins Park.
Hospitals priorities
Highest priority there will go to those working in the ICU and emergency departments, including those performing aerosolizing procedures such as intubating patients. The first tier at Einstein will also include supporting roles in those areas, like security and food service personnel, as well as pharmacy workers.
Penn Medicine will also include all workers not only doctors and nurses in high-exposure areas in the first tier.
In the following rounds, Einstein plans to offer the vaccine to anyone in the hospital caring for COVID-19 patients, and after that, those working in outpatient settings.
In a note to staff sent Thursday, Temple University Health System president and CEO Michael A. Young noted that 3,000 of its more than 10,000 employees meet one of two high-risk categories the hospital will prioritize for the first round of vaccines: those whose work assignment puts them at risk of close contact with confirmed COVID-positive patients for more than 15 minutes, and those who work in departments where the COVID-positivity rate has been higher than 10%.
Jefferson will offer the vaccine first to clinical employees at the highest risk of COVID-19, such as those in the emergency departments, ICUs and COVID units, according to an email sent to staff Tuesday. It anticipates receiving its first batch next week in Pennsylvania and the week of Dec. 21 in New Jersey.
Though none of these hospitals plan to mandate the vaccine, their administrations encourage workers to get it.
Noticias Newswire
