LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Employees at three Louisville hospitals could be among the first in Kentucky to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
University of Louisville Hospital, Baptist Health Louisville and Norton Healthcare were finalizing their plans to distribute initial doses of the vaccine on Thursday, the same day a U.S. government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of Pfizer’s vaccine.
Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the FDA signs off, as expected, on the committee’s recommendation. University of Louisville Hospital and Baptist Health will receive 975 vaccine doses, while Norton will get 1,950 doses.
Officials with all three hospitals said they plan to distribute the vaccine in a tiered approach.
Norton Healthcare said it isn't focusing on staff's specific job titles. Rather, it is determining who will get the vaccine based on risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Baptist Health Louisville said it will also based its vaccinations on risk. The hospital recently sent out a survey to its employees to determine who was willing to receive the vaccine.
"The FDA is still following the very tight processes to ensure that this vaccine if very efficacious, that it's very safe," said Dr. Shaina Doyen, a clinical pharmacy specialist in infectious diseases at Baptist Health Louisville. "Otherwise, they wouldn't proceed forward, and I think that gives us a lot of ease in knowing that we're going to be getting a product that is safe and efficacious."
At U of L, the first doses will be sent to its emergency room departments, respiratory therapy and ICU areas and floors that are taking care of the majority of its coronavirus patients.
"If I look at all of those people, there are about twice that number of people than the vaccine that I will get," said Dr. Jason Smith, UofL Health's chief medical officer. "We've begun to kind of just break that down. Hopefully we'll be able to do this in about two weeks and be able to get that high-risk group done."
Patients who receive the initial dose of the vaccine will need to get a booster 21 days later.
Thursday's FDA meeting comes just one day after the country set a new record for the most deaths related to COVID-19 in a single day: 3,124.
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