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Priority for COVID-19 vaccinations — healthcare workers, 1st responders

J Medical Center Chief Executive Officer, Faumuina John Faumuina (3rd from left) and Health director Motusa Tuileama Nua (4th from left) — along with task force members and medical personnel
First shipment of 3,000 doses will protect 1500 people — it’s a 2 dose series
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Health Department estimates that close to 1,800 first responders, including healthcare workers will be the first local residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, with the first shipment to arrive this Saturday on the weekly cargo flight.

This is according to health officials during a joint DoH and LBJ Medical Center news conference Monday this week at the LBJ compound where DoH Senior Epidemiologist, Dr. Aifili John Tufa, revealed that another manufacturer, Moderna — which is awaiting FDA approval for its vaccine — has already made an allocation for American Samoa.

The government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force co-chairmen, LBJ Medical Center Chief Executive Officer, Faumuina John Faumuina and Health director Motusa Tuileama Nua, were accompanied by medical personnel from the task force during a news conference Monday to communicate to the community local preparations and plans to receive and distribute the COVID-19 vaccines.

Last Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a vaccine for the COVID-19. The federal agency said that the EUA  allows Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S.

During the local news conference, DoH Pharmacist, Dr. Francine Amoa — who is a member of the task force and chair’s the panel’s distribution working group — shared summary information on the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine.

She also explained it’s the manufacturer that allocates the vaccine doses and that the first shipment will arrive this Saturday on the cargo flight. And the vaccine is for individuals 16-years and older.

Asked how many doses of the vaccine will be sent in the first shipment, Dr. Amoa said the numbers have changed since the beginning of conversations with the federal Warp-Speed Group — which oversees the vaccine distribution for the US.

“The last we were told, we would be getting enough doses for just under 3,000 individuals,” she said and explained that the shipment includes the first and second doses, which is administered 21-days after the first dose.

“So it’s a two-series vaccine. All of those who will be getting the first dose, are required to get the second dose in order for it to be considered a complete vaccination,” she explained.

The vaccine needs to be kept in the deep freeze at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit — minus 70 Celsius — and US health officials say that sufficient cooling facilities would be required for storage of the vaccines.

“We do have the ultra low freezer that is required to store this vaccine,” said Dr. Amoa when asked about the freezer storage, saying both DoH and LBJ have the required storage facility. She explained that the vaccine will arrive in a “thermal shipper” box, which has the ability to maintain temperature — minus 70 degrees Celsius — until it can be transferred to an “ultra low-freezer” that’s available locally.

Dr. Amoa also discussed the priority of who gets the vaccine first based on the tiers set up by the task force. “Because of the limited supplies, the first group for vaccination are healthcare workers and first responders,” she pointed out.

“In terms of health care workers — those who are providing direct face-to-face patient care, for both ASG and private entities,” she said citing for example — the private sector at Hope House and these workers taking care of elderly patients.

“In addition to that, we have also considered and now are including those staff who are going to be involved directly with repatriation [flights],” she explained. “Because that is still something that we would like to go ahead and pursue — repatriation. All of the staff involved with repatriation will be considered in the first tier.

The second tier — or priority is “all of our non-medical, but essential personnel. These are individuals who are in the maintenance, helping to support all of our physicians, nurses who are dealing directly with patients,” she said.

Asked about the total number of individuals — healthcare workers and first responders — expected to be vaccinated first, Motusa said “we’re looking at about 1,700 total number for first responders — that’s DoH, LBJ, port administration, DPS, customs, immigration, and drivers. Close to about 1,800.”

For LBJ, with a workforce of about 800, the hospital has identified 450 who are all front-liners — the doctors and nurses, and anyone that is in patient care, according to LBJ Chief Pharmacist Dr. Evelyn Ah-Hing Fa’ai’uaso, a member of the task force who attended the news conference.

Health officials say the vaccine shipments will be sent out in “waves” and not all at one time. Dr. Tufa said the territory’s allocation for December from Pfizer will arrive this Saturday and that “we are also expecting vaccine” allocation for December from Moderna, which is awaiting federal approval of its vaccine.

The FDA said its preliminary analysis confirmed the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, according to The Associated Press, which also reported yesterday that a panel of outside experts is expected to vote to recommend the formula on Thursday, with the FDA’s green light coming soon thereafter.

The AP reports that the Moderna vaccine uses the same technology as Pfizer and showed similarly strong protection against COVID-19 but is easier to handle because it does not need to be kept in the deep freeze at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius).

While American Samoa’s total allocation from Moderna for December was not revealed at the news conference, Dr. Tufa said the allocations for subsequent months of January and months thereafter will take up until July or August to all come in.

Samoa News will report later this week on other issues from the news conference such as those eligible and not eligible to receive the vaccine and what officials say if a healthcare worker or a first responder opts not to receive the vaccine.