Stanislaus County secures cold freezers to store incoming vaccines – thanks to Stan State
The first allocation of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was expected to arrive in Stanislaus County on Tuesday, a record-breaking four days after receiving emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
To prepare, the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services had to secure ultra-cold freezers. So they reached out to Stanislaus State University researchers, who stepped up to help the community.
“We’re looking at the public health crisis of the century,” said Jim Youngblom. “We are thrilled to help.”
Youngblom is professor and chair of the Biology Department at the Turlock campus and said he understands the critical importance of a vaccine to stay cold from its origin to the site giving the shots.
The vaccine demonstrated 95% protection, but has some extra challenges for handling and distribution because it requires storage in a minus-70 degree freezer, a temperature rivaling that of Antarctica.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, public health officer for Stanislaus County, said she hopes the first shipment arrives Tuesday, though she has not yet received shipping notification.
If everything goes as planned, vaccinations of local health care workers could begin as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.
Vaishampayan said there have been lots of challenges in preparing for the vaccine, especially related to storage.
“We don’t have any minus-70 degree freezers at a county facility,” she said. “We have a wonderful partner in this county, Stanislaus State University, who had a couple minus-70 degree freezers they are loaning us.”
Youngblom said the biology department has four ultra-cold freezers, including one that wasn’t in use. To free up a second unit, his colleagues consolidated their research specimens into the other units.
Minus-70 degree freezers are often used for research specimens because they offer optimal preservation for long-term storage. They’re not usually needed for routine vaccines, like those given to infants and children. Those can be stored at the temperature of a typical refrigerator freezer.
Delivery chain for the vaccine
Sunday morning, shipping trucks packed with the vaccine departed Pfizer’s storage center in Portage, Michigan, heading to airports and directly to final destinations across the country, as the number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 hit an all-time high.
An ICU nurse in New York was the first person in the U.S. to receive the Pfizer vaccine on Monday morning, and nationwide health care workers, including those in Stanislaus County, will soon be lining up for their doses.
Vaishampayan said, “Once the vaccine comes out of the minus-70 degree freezer, it has only five days that it can be refrigerated, so it needs to get into people’s arms in five days.”
The county will send the vaccines out in increments, so the local hospitals can efficiently immunize their staff.
Availability of vaccines to the general public will likely not occur until well into 2021, but the timeline depends on the number of vaccines that receive FDA emergency authorization, as well as the rate of producing new lots.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set the first priority group for receiving the vaccine as health care workers who provide direct care to known or suspected COVID-19 patients and residents and staff of long-term care facilities.
Stanislaus County is expecting 3,900 doses of the state’s initial 327,000 doses, and public health will allocate the first vaccines to the five acute care hospitals in proportion to the number of health care workers on their staff.
First in line among health care workers are the more than 5,000 who work in high-risk settings, including ICUs, emergency rooms or directly caring for known or suspected COVID-19 patients.
Delivery of vaccines to long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, follows a different pathway, called the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program. Facilities could enroll into this program to have a pharmacy assume the responsibility for vaccination of residents and staff at their centers. CVS, Walgreens and some managed care pharmacies have partnered with the CDC for this program.
Vaishampayan said the pharmacy system has been activated by the state and shipment of their vaccine allotment is expected next week, and immunizations at the facilities to start soon thereafter.
“This is the season of hope and this vaccine is bringing us hope for the end of the pandemic,” said Vaishampayan, “2020 has been really a difficult year for so many and having a vaccine to give to people in our county gives hope for a much better new year.”
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
