The vaccine is here and members of the medical profession throughout Coahoma County are making plans to distribute the injections that will prevent COVID.
Coahoma County EMA Director Johnny Tarzi told Coahoma County Supervisors the first doses of the vaccine will go into the arms of healthcare workers this week with the pool to expand through March.
“After we get our healthcare workers protected it will go to first responders – police, fire, EMS workers,” said Tarzi. “And we will expand it until it runs out.”
Tarzi said the state and federal government is very interested in the number of healthcare and first responders who take the medicine as they chart coverage and the effectiveness of the vaccine.
The vaccine requires documentaion of two injections to be effective.
Tarzi said while Emergency Management is charged with managing the program the vaccine will be handled and distributed by the Mississippi State Department of Health’s local offices.
“I don’t know what type of vaccine we got or even the number of doses,” said Tarzi. “We don’t have enough to go around and this is the first round.”
Frontline healthcare workers and long-term care residents were the first to qualify.
“We are encouraged to have the vaccine available to protect our healthcare workers from infection,” said Dianne Mitchell, director of community/PR/marketing for Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center.
Mitchell said the hospital has currently received a total of 600 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the Mississippi Department of Health. The first batch of 100 doses was administered to employees, physicians and nurse practitioners.
“The additional doses received are being offered to community first responders, police department, fire department, sheriff department and local EMS (Emergency Management Safety) and then to workers in medical clinics,” Mitchell said. “We expect to work closely with the health department to determine how vaccines will be distributed to the next eligible groups in our community and to the larger general public over time.”
Joel Southern, CEO of Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, talked about the importance of safety.
“The safety of healthcare providers and the safety of patients is our highest priority,” he said. “Vaccination is an important step in helping to prevent the illness and its potentially devastating consequences.”
Westgate Drug, a local pharmacy in Clarksdale, is making plans to distribute the vaccine toward the end of March and beginning of April.
Pharmacist Doug Smith said Westgate Drug is a part of Health Mart Corporation pharmacies and McKesson is wholesaler that will provide the vaccine.
Smith said Westgate Drug will have the vaccine for Phase 2, but the distribution process is currently on Phase I.
“I think at that point anybody will be able to get it. I know it’s probably going to be geared more towards 65 and older crowd,” Smith said.
“It’s still early stages. There’s still a lot of information that’s not out. I think the first responders are supposed to be getting it pretty soon, from what I understand.”
What type of vaccine and how many doses Westgate Drug will receive is yet to be determined.
“I doubt we’ll get the Pfizer one, which is the one that’s supposed to be capped at really cold temperatures,” Smith said. “There are new people coming out with the vaccines trying to get approval every day. It will just be, whenever Stage 2 rolls around whoever has the most vaccines that they can give out at the time.
“I imagine they’ll look at the population for each state because it’s all government controlled on the distribution process. It should be equal spread throughout the entire country, but who knows?”
Smith said he expects it to take one year for everyone to have an opportunity to take the vaccine.
Mitchell said for more information regarding the state's COVID-19 vaccination plan and when one may become eligible to be vaccinated, the Mississippi Department of Health is the best source. One can learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine at www.cdc.gov or www.msdh.ms.gov
