Officials say the first COVID-19 vaccine in North Dakota is just a few weeks away

The first vaccine shipments to North Dakota are expected to be “very, very limited,” said Molly Howell, health ministry vaccination program manager, and the state is still later. The vaccination process is hashing plans for how to distribute the vaccine in stages. However, with two effective vaccines awaiting federal approval in the coming weeks, the state said it would prioritize immunization of healthcare workers and nursing home residents in the early stages of distribution. ..

Two different vaccines, developed separately by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna, will be federally approved later this month, and Howell will arrive in North Dakota on the week of December 14 for the first shipment of Pfizer vaccine. He said he expected it. The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences is considering approving an emergency license for the Pfizer vaccine on December 10, and conducted a similar hearing on the Moderna vaccine later this month, with the first batch of both vaccines within 24 hours of approval. We plan to make it available for shipment.

North Dakota public health experts emphasized the safety of injections on Wednesday as both vaccines came from a record development and approval process, both companies in a rigorous federal approval process and in the pilot phase. We emphasized the efficacy of more than 90% of the vaccine.

“Reducing the time frame guarantees people that the shortening of the time frame was a surprising feat that did not actually shorten the key elements of the FDA regulatory approval process, which ensures that vaccines must meet very high safety standards. I want to, “said Dr. Paul. Carson, an infectious disease specialist at North Dakota State University and a pandemic consultant in the health sector. According to Carson, vaccinated people should expect mild short-term symptoms after injection, but neither vaccine has significant side effects at this time.

Vaccine distribution coordination is preceded by local public health messages and logistics as the state prepares for a large-scale distribution effort aimed at immunizing about 70% of the country by next spring. Expected to bring no testing.Recent polls by the North Dakota Newspaper Association It turns out that about two-thirds of North Dakota say they will be vaccinated, Close to the threshold that epidemiologists say is necessary for herd immunity. However, both the Pfizer and Modana vaccines need to be given twice at intervals of several weeks. Howell’s predicted requirements can pose logistical challenges when vaccination of the general population begins at a later stage.

Nonetheless, North Dakota has acquired a freezer and shipping materials to facilitate the storage and shipping of vaccines at the required low temperatures, and Howell is well-equipped for the state to distribute vaccines throughout the state. He said he expected to be there. “I think we’re very confident. I think North Dakota is probably in a better position to distribute to rural areas than any other state,” she said.

For the first shipment later this month, North Dakota will receive small batches of 6,825 doses of Pfizer and 13,000 doses of Moderna, with the same number of second doses expected to arrive later. With these initial doses, Howell said the state will be engaged in health care workers at four major medical hubs in North Dakota, Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot, as well as in some regional critical access hospitals. Said to give priority to those. With about 70,000 health care workers and 12,000 caregivers in North Dakota, Howell said vaccinations for caregivers are expected to begin by the end of the year.

Within weeks of their first shipment, the federal government will allocate additional doses to individual states. Uncertainty about the size of these subsequent allocations, according to Howell, remains a major open issue for state authorities deciding how to distribute the vaccine at a later stage.

Also, while the state is still waiting for federal guidance on how to prioritize subsequent shipments of vaccines, Howell said top-level guidance is likely to be ambiguous. The North Dakota COVID-19 Vaccination Ethics Committee, consisting of five public health volunteers, advises state leaders on how to distribute these late stages at a more detailed level. Howell has made a tentative plan to prioritize essential workers such as police officers, firefighters and teachers, as well as residents aged 65 and over and other high-risk people who live outside the care facility.

Howell encouraged patience for everyone else in North Dakota. Most residents who do not belong to the high-risk group may not be vaccinated until late spring or early summer.

Readers can contact forum reporter Adam Willis, a member of the Report for America corps, at awillis @ forumcomm.com.