CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Atrium Health was among the first in the region to receive the first doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, following the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization of the vaccine.
Atrium was also among 11 health care providers who received the first shipments of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine earlier this month.
With this shipment of the new vaccine from Moderna, frontline healthcare employees who work at one of Atrium Health’s integrated network of hospitals outside of the Charlotte area will now have convenient access to a COVID-19 vaccine.
"There really is a sense in the hospital of excitement that it's here,” said Dr. Lewis McCurdy with Atrium Health.
100 vials, about 1,000 doses, were delivered on Monday. Moderna's vaccine has been clinically proven to be safe and 94.1% effective. This supply will allow about 1,000 of Atrium Health’s frontline healthcare workers, working in high-priority areas where they are at a higher risk of exposure, to receive the vaccine at a faster pace.
Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna’s can be kept in a standard freezer, so Atrium officials said they will be giving it in facilities that don't have access to an ultra-cold freezer.
"Stanly, Kings Mountain, and Anson, which are the facilities that are further away from Charlotte. Just based on those being further away from where our storage capabilities are and obviously, those are also somewhat smaller hospitals,” said McCurdy.
They're working on protocols to get the vaccine transported and likely won't actually give the shot for another few weeks.
But Atrium Health now has access to two different vaccines. More Pfizer shipments are coming in this week, thousands of doses expected at several Atrium locations.
"Having different vaccines is super hopeful in the sense that it gives us an opportunity to provide immunity or to develop immunity for people who work at Atrium and our greater community,” said McCurdy.
Since the first vaccines arrived last week, more than 1,300 Atrium staff members have been given the shot and more than 5,000 are scheduled to roll up their sleeves in the coming days.
"The report is that they're doing well getting vaccine in the arms of the people that need it,” Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris said at a press conference on Monday.
Atrium Health receives second COVID-19 vaccine
This week, more than 61,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will ship to North Carolina. More than 21,000 doses will be distributed to Charlotte-area hospitals and the Mecklenburg County Health Department.
The health department is expecting 975 doses in the next few days. An ultra-cold freezer to store them is also on its way.
Those doses will continue to go to those in Phase 1A of vaccine distribution.
“Initially that includes healthcare workers, our EMTs and paramedics, our testing partners,” said Harris.
They'll be vaccinating those giving the vaccine too. The county is also covering about 200 long-term care facilities that did not enroll in the federal program. Through that program, CVS and Walgreens will vaccinate staff and residents of long term care facilities.
“A number of those are small, five or six beds, group homes, small mental health facilities," Harris said. "So, we have quite a few that we need to work on. We are looking at expanding capacity for testing."
The county is a long way from mass distribution, but officials said they are working on plans for when vaccines are readily available to all community members.
Half of the doses will go to hospitals while the rest will go to long-term care facilities in all 100 counties. The federal government has chosen Walgreens and CVS to administer the vaccines in those facilities.
On Monday, CVS Pharmacy revealed the teams that will give the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in facilities across 12 states this week and the company expects to vaccinate up to 4 million residents and staff at more than 40,000 long-term care facilities through the program.
“Today’s rollout is the culmination of months of internal planning and demonstrates how the private sector can use its expertise to help solve some of our most critical challenges,” said Larry J. Merlo, President and Chief Executive Officer, CVS Health. “I’m grateful for the herculean efforts of everyone involved, including our health care professionals who will be deployed throughout the country to bring peace of mind to long-term care facility residents, staff, and their loved ones.”
CVS Pharmacy teams will make three visits to every long-term care facility to ensure residents and staff receive their initial shot and the critical booster. The majority of residents and staff will be fully vaccinated three to four weeks after the first visit, depending on which vaccine they receive.
CVS Health expects to complete its long-term care facility vaccinations in 12 weeks.