COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mercy Health St. Vincent Hospital took possession of its first shipment of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning and vaccinations of health care workers are underway
Representatives from Mercy Health took part in Tuesday's briefing with Gov. Mike DeWine as he outlined further COVID-19 vaccine plans for the state.
DeWine said health care professionals started to be vaccinated on Monday at Wexner Medical Center in Columbus and UC Health in Cincinnati
The state will continue to receive vaccines throughout the month.
This week, the state is receiving 98,475 doses from Pfizer. Next week, the state is anticipating 123,000 from Pfizer and 201,900 from Moderna, pending FDA approval, which is expected to happen this week.
DeWine said by Christmas, he anticipates the state will have received more than 420,000 vaccines. During the week of New Year's, he anticipates 148,000 Pfizer doses and 89,000 Moderna doses being delivered. These vaccines require two shots.
MERCY HEALTH ST. VINCENT HOSPITAL JOINS NEWS CONFERENCE
Dr. Kevin Casey of Mercy Health St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo joined the news conference via video and said the vaccination process is underway.
The leader of the critical care team, Dr. James Tita, chief medical officer for Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center and a respiratory specialist, rolled up his sleeve to receive the vaccine during the news conference.
"We have a vaccination committee that's been planning for weeks on who of the front line health care workers should receive it first," Casey said. "It's a very exciting day for us. ... It's almost as if the race is about to start. We've been waiting for the gun to go off. We're excited that the race is going to start."
Casey said that his message to Ohioans is that even though the vaccine is starting to become available, people still need to practice health measures to fight against contracting COVID-19.
"This is just the beginning of the end. It is not the end. It's great to give a level of protection to the health care workers who are near the pandemic. ... I would ask that everyone continue to mask up, practice good hygiene and do the physical distancing so we can keep each other safe," he said
Casey didn't give specific numbers of how many health care workers would be vaccinated, but said "as many as we safely can, every day" will be vaccinated.
NEXT STEPS FOR LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS
DeWine said Tuesday that local health departments will receive the vaccine the week of the 21st. Guidance is being sent to health departments on who should be prioritized and where the vaccines will be administered.
Among the guidance, local health departments are asked to coordinate vaccination of congregate care facility staff members who are not enrolled in the federal long-term care pharmacy program. DeWine noted this means most nursing homes will not be handled by local health departments because of this program.
The congregate care group also includes people with mental health and developmental disabilities who live in group homes and/or residential facilities.
DeWine also said the guidance calls for local health departments to vaccinate other health care providers who are not being vaccinated by hospitals/health systems.
This could include home health workers, hospice workers, emergency medical services providers, primary care practitioners, urgent care/free-standing emergency room providers, free-standing dialysis center providers, dental providers, public health employees who are at risk of exposure, mobile unit practitioners, federally qualified health center providers and high-risk ancillary health care staff members.
TUESDAY'S COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS
On Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Health reported 8,755 new coronavirus cases and 103 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. In addition, the state saw 614 new hospitalizations, which is the second-highest of the pandemic to date.
Cases have dropped since last week's totals, but it will take awhile for hospital numbers to fall as well.
As of Tuesday, there were more patients just in the ICU than the state had total for all COVID-19 hospitalized patients during the previous peak last summer, DeWine said. The data also showed there were also 863 patients using a ventilator, whereas as recently as a month ago, there were just 360 patients on ventilators.
VACCINES ARRIVE AT MERCY HEALTH ST. VINCENT
Mercy Health St. Vincent's is one of the first hospitals in Ohio with the vaccine, receiving 975 doses.
The vaccines will be given out to people most likely to be exposed to coronavirus, like emergency room and ICU employees.
Mercy was selected for this round of doses because the hospital has the right type of freezers needed to keep the vaccine chilled to the proper temperature.
PHOTOS | First COVID-19 vaccine doses arrive in Toledo & are administered at Mercy Health St. Vincent Hospital
ProMedica leaders are anticipating its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the next few days and expects to be giving it to employees by the end of the week. If all goes well and the Moderna vaccine is approved by the FDA, ProMedica could also receive a shipment of that vaccine on Dec. 22.