WORCESTER, Mass. — Hospitals around the commonwealth have been getting ready for months to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and as the day approaches, there’s still much work to do. UMass Memorial recently received vaccine kits with alcohol swabs, syringes, and a solution that will be used to dilute vaccine which will come in a powder form, according to Chief Pharmacy Officer Neil Gilchrist.
UMass Memorial has three ultra-freezers where vaccine will be stored at about -80 degrees Celsius. The hospital has ordered an additional four ultra-freezers.
“This is really a historic moment,” Gilchrist said.
While they prepare for receiving shipments, there is a set of specific guidelines sent by Pfizer detailing everything from unpacking to administering it.
“We are already preparing to stand-up vaccination clinics by the end of the next week to allow our front line caregivers that are caring for COVID positive patients coming into the healthcare system to receive that vaccine,” Gilchrist added.
UMass Memorial participated in the Pfizer trials so there’s a lot of background knowledge but it is still an immense undertaking, Gilchrist said.
Brockton Hospital’s Emergency Department Chairman said he and his colleagues are doing as much as they can before physically receiving the vaccine but there are many unknowns from dose allotment to the timing of the shipment.
“It’s definitely not ideal,” said Dr. Huang Ngo, Medical Director of Employee Health and Chief of the Emergency Department of Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital.
“We would definitely like something scheduled, set in stone, but to be honest for the past nine months we’ve been dealing with a lot of unknowns we’ve had to pivot within a day or two with new data coming out.”
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