We just had our first interdisciplinary  COVID-19 vaccination planning meeting (Infection Prevention,  Occupational Health, Pharmacy, Distribution, Emergency Planning, ID physicians)

We were told by our Health Dept to prepare to start limited vaccinations in late Oct/early Nov with a ramp up by the end of December.

Topics we discussed:

• Vaccine storage, administration, efficacy
• Vaccine must be stored at -70◦C and will be shipped on dry ice.  Our pharmacy is designated for centralized storage and an additional freezer will need to be ordered.
• Vaccine #1 can be stored at 2◦-8◦C (normal vaccine temps) for 24 hours and Vaccine #2 for up to six days
• Vaccine must be used within six hours at room temperature (both types).
• Each person will require  two vaccines, one month apart.   Future vaccines may only require one dose.
• CDC workgroup listed estimated efficacy at around 70% for those 64 or younger and 50% for those 65 or older after two doses.
• Protection develops 14 days post vaccination.   Length of immunity unknown at present.  Neutralizing antibody measured 7^th days post 2^nd vaccine
• Special diluent must be used.
• Team Member (aka EHS) clinic will  administer vaccine initially by invited appointment
• We will probably use pool staff to assist with administration
• Vaccine will only be offered to HCWs initially and we anticipate giving approximately 30,000 doses (15,000 HCWs) by spring/summer 2021. 
• Depending on vaccine availability, we may offer to high risk (i.e. transplant) patients.
• We have already ordered supplies (syringe, needles, etc) .

• Vaccine Availability and Prioritization
• CDC Workgroup estimates:
• 1-2 million doses available Oct;  10-20 million Nov;  20-30 million Dec
• 9 million essential HCW
• 16 million other essential workers (homeland security, policy, first responders, education, emergency operations, food supply)
• 100 million U.S. population in high risk groups (52 million age 65 or older)
• We were told by our health dept  to expect around 200 vaccines per week for first month, then a larger increase by end of second month.
• We have pulled number of team members by cost center and have assigned our highest priority to  700 HCWs/physicians in the Emergency Dept,  COVID-19 ICU, Security,  COVD-19 testing site, etc.for first vaccination group.
• We plan to survey these areas to determine who would agree to vaccination in the initial offering as phase III trials will still be ongoing and some HCWs are reluctant to be part of the initial group
• No decisions made on whether we will require vaccination in high risk areas or for our HCWs currently sheltering in place at home.
• Other
• Developing portal page on COVID-19 vaccination as well as consent form
• Working with our communication/PR dept on messaging
• Goal is to have everything prepared to start by end of October

Would love to hear what others are doing to prepare. 

JoAnn Shea, APRN, MS, COHN-S

Director, Team Member Health and Wellness

Tampa General Hospital

Office: 813-844-7692

Cell:      813-789-3441

jshea@tgh.org

From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces@mylist.net> On Behalf Of Abhijay Karandikar via MCOH-EH
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2020 11:18 AM
To: mcoh-eh@mylist.net
Cc: Abhijay Karandikar <dr_abhik@yahoo.com>
Subject: [MCOH-EH] COVID-19 vaccination planning

WARNING: This email came from an external source outside of Tampa General Hospital.

All of us in employee health will probably be discussing this at our respective centers, if not doing so already! So, here goes:

I am a part of a clinical operations planning group for COVID-19 vaccination program planning. Have you begun such discussions in your medical centers? If so, do you have guidelines or plans or information that is necessary to implement a successful COVID-19 vaccination program when vaccines do become available? Are there regulatory (state, JCAHO, etc.) requirements/recommendations that are currently “in the making” that you are aware of? Would you be willing to share any information?

If you want to respond separately, I will compile responses and send to the group.

Thanks and stay safe!

Abhijay


Abhijay P. Karandikar, MD, MPH, FACOEM
Reading Hospital
West Reading, PA

DO NOT CLICK on links or attachments from unsolicited senders that you don’t recognize or trust.
NEVER provide your account ID and password.