BOISE, Idaho — St. Luke's received its first shipment of the new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines Tuesday.
Scott Milner is St. Luke's Senior Director of Pharmacy who is tasked with making sure the equipment for this is ready and in place. He says they got 195 vials, which is 975 doses. The vaccine is being stored in specialty ultra-low-temperature freezers.
Milner says the federal government has provided St. Luke’s with the supplies they need to administer the vaccine such as alcohol swabs, needles and syringes. Those are broken into kits and sent out to the administration sites.
The vaccine will be given to St. Luke’s frontline workers starting Friday in Boise, Meridian and the Magic Valley. Employees in the Wood River Valley, McCall and Cascade will start receiving the vaccine next week.
Distribution is based on where a person works. Lists have already been created of hospital employees most at risk which include those who have direct access to COVID-19 patients, such as nurses, doctors and people who work in emergency rooms.
“I know Idaho is hoping for other allocations, we’re still waiting to hear what the next few weeks allocations will be,” Milner said. “And I anticipate that we’ll probably get another shipment that’ll have two trays in there in the next few weeks. At least we hope.”
Each tray contains 195 vials, enough for 975 doses of the vaccine.
People receiving the vaccine this month will also get a second dose in January.
“I think that as more people are vaccinated, you know, as your peers, your neighbors, your friends, and we see what the success is, I think that more and more people will be ready to adopt this as something that they want to do to help combat our COVID strains,” Milner said.
St. Luke's expects another shipment of 975 on Thursday.
St. Luke's gets first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine
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