BOISE, Idaho — Idaho's COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee met for two hours Friday to start planning the vaccine's arrival to Idaho, which is expected to happen later this month.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare expects to begin distributing the Pfizer vaccine statewide in mid-December. And possibly a week later, the Moderna vaccine. Both vaccines are nearing final approval from the FDA.
Sarah Leeds is the program manager for the Idaho Immunization Program. She told other members of the committee that the Pfizer vaccine will be the first to roll out. About 6.4 million doses will be available for nationwide distribution. Idaho will only be getting a small fraction of that number.
"We have 13,650 (doses), which makes the choice for those first groups of people very difficult," Leeds said. "We have way more healthcare providers in that group than 13,650, but the good news is that we anticipate a pretty significant ramping up of doses by the end of the year and the beginning of 2021."
Those will be distributed to seven public health districts around the state.
The committee has adopted a plan to distribute the vaccine first to healthcare providers and people living and working in long-term care facilities.
The second week of distribution will include 15,600 Pfizer vaccines and 28,000 Moderna vaccines. In week three, there will be 19,500 Pfizer doses and 12,400 Moderna doses in Idaho.
The committee also voted 31-0 to the question - "Does the CVAC recommend Idaho activate the Pharmacy Partnership Program?"
The CDC is partnering with Walgreens and CVS pharmacies to prioritize to get long-term care facility staff and residents vaccinated.
Friday's meeting was live streamed on KTVB.COM and our YouTube channel.
Read the full meeting agenda.
The Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee was formed by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare at the direction of Gov. Brad Little in October and its members represent stakeholders from across Idaho, including the tribes, priority populations, healthcare systems and providers, and immunization organizations.
The committee is not scheduled to meet again until Dec. 18.
On Thursday, Idaho saw another day of high COVID numbers.
The Gem State tacked on 1,841 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus, as well as 23 new virus-related deaths.
