Hospital prepares COVID-19 vaccine | News

Large hospital systems are working on the best way to determine which healthcare professionals will be vaccinated with COVID-19 first. This can be a daunting task if you don’t know which shots to take, how many times and when to arrive.

The first COVID-19 vaccine may be approved for use in the U.S. soon next month as Pfizer and BioNTech SE candidates are already under consideration and Moderna’s attack is not too late. .. Meanwhile, federal officials say that high-risk health care workers and older Americans should be vaccinated as Step 1 where they may initiate months-long decisions involving other major priority groups. Is sending a signal.

However, it can be difficult to follow these first guidelines. With 21 million health care workers in the United States, there is almost certainly no dose sufficient to reach all health care workers at once. Therefore, hospitals need to classify workers based on estimates of the best distribution. This task is further complicated on some systems by the patchwork state-by-state approach.

The Minnesota Allina Health system, which employs 15,600 workers in direct contact with patients in Minnesota and Wisconsin, estimates that it could initially receive 3,000 to 4,000 doses. Plan: Prioritize those who interact directly with coronavirus patients by listing each worker by occupation and work unit.

“We see all employees, where they work, their role, and what their exposure risk is,” said a doctor overseeing the coronavirus response at Arina Health Hospital. Ryan Els said.

Healthcare systems that work across state boundaries face even greater challenges. While states are inspired by federal guidelines, they have created their own priority list, which could allow some employees in one state to be vaccinated before their peers in another. Creating a situation.

“How fair does it feel to people in the same system?” Providence Physician and Chief Clinical Officer Amy Compton Phillips operates 51 hospitals and clinics and clinics across seven states. Said that.

Like Alina, Providence also plans to vaccinate workers based on their role for impartiality. The health system notifies workers when it is their turn to get vaccinated. Also, if people think the group was misclassified, it is creating an appealing process. “When things are scarce, you make really difficult decisions. They feel sick,” said Compton Phillips.

Federal authorities will initially deliver 6.4 million doses nationwide, according to Gasperna, chief operating officer of Operation Warpspeed. Perna said in a phone call with reporters Tuesday that more doses would be delivered on a weekly basis with the goal of distributing 40 million doses by the end of the year.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on the phone that shipments would be split across states based on the size of the adult population and would not respond to the virus surge.

“We wanted to keep this simple, because at first it spreads nationwide and is susceptible to illness,” Hazard said. “But also, as we pass through these first tranches in a much rarer situation, we will eventually reach a point where we need to be per capita, so we use multiple methodologies. Instead, I thought it was best to keep it simple. “

Some healthcare systems take a finer-grained approach in preparing for the use of shots.

With 26 hospitals and more clinics and doctors in Illinois and Wisconsin, Advocate Aurora Health Inc. identifies workers at the highest risk of severe illness and provides equal coverage of employees. I don’t expect to get enough dose. This means taking into account details such as how widespread the coronavirus is in a particular community, as well as employee risk factors, and Robert Citron, Physician and Executive Medical Director for Infectious Diseases and Prevention. Berg said.

“We want to target as much as possible the people who are most likely to be severely ill with covid. We know they are elderly and have underlying illness,” Citronberg said. Mr. says.

Northwell Health in New York, with 23 hospitals, has already created a spreadsheet of 74,000 workers and a new corona at work, according to doctor and chief quality officer of the system, Mark Jarrett. Classified by risk of catching the virus.

Northwell’s calculations assess how much employees interact with infected patients and how widespread the virus is in the community, like Advocate Aurora. The second data point is subject to change from time to time, resulting in people working in a wider area being vaccinated first.

And Jarrett brings another problem to the table. He’s less worried about people seeking vaccines, more worried about workers who don’t want vaccines, and fears that other hospital executives across the country may be echoing. ..

According to Providence Compton Phillips, the health system had already had to fight the anti-vaccination movement when concerns about accelerating covid-19 vaccine development further surprised workers.

Allison Satoru, physician and chief healthcare officer at Sioux Falls in South Dakota, wants clinical trial data to reassure workers in the system. According to an internal study, more people will be vaccinated with the covid-19 vaccine after Pfizer and Moderna each published early results showing that they were about 95% effective.

“I’m optimistic, cautiously optimistic, and proud to have healthcare professionals jump up, stick out their shoulders, and get vaccinated,” Satoru said.

If the Food and Drug Administration approves a vaccination candidate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make a final recommendation on who to vaccinate. Members of the CDC’s Immunization Commission review the data to get clues as to whether the prescription works better in some groups than in others.

Meanwhile, the medical system will continue to prepare as much as possible. Jarrett laughed when asked if he knew how many times Northwell would take.

“No,” he replied. According to Jarrett, estimates are likely to change, and even small fluctuations can make a big difference.