That is in addition to the expected shipment of 17,550 Pfizer vaccines that could come as early as Dec.15 if the FDA gives emergency authorization at a meeting Thursday.
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230 of the Pfizer vaccines will be given to San Benito County.
RELATED: 3 hospitals reach ICU capacity in Santa Clara County
The Moderna vaccine will be reviewed by the FDA on Dec. 17, after which it will be shipped out, potentially reaching Santa Clara before Christmas.
Who will get it first?
Health officials said they will begin administering the "Phase 1a" vaccines in three tiers.
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Tier 1 includes:
- Acute care, psychiatric and correctional facility hospitals
- Skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and similar settings for older or medically vulnerable
- Paramedics, EMTs and others providing emergency medical services
- Dialysis centers
Tier 2 includes:
- Intermediate care facilities
- Home healthcare & supportive services
- Community health workers
- Public health field staff
- Primary care clinics, including rural health centers, correctional facility clinics and urgent care clinics
Tier 3 includes:
- Specialty clinics
- Laboratory workers
- Dental / oral health clinics
- Pharmacy staff not working in settings at higher tiers
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With 56,620 total doses for Santa Clara County in this first batch of vaccines, Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said, it won't be enough to cover tier one.
"The take home here is the first bit of vaccine that will be coming to our county will not even be enough to cover the first two bullets in tier one," she said, referring to acute care, psychiatric, correction and skilled nursing facilities. "Because that's a very, very large group of individuals that fall into bullet one and bullet two."
The County Public Health Department will be responsible for allocating vaccines to hospitals in the county.
In the case of Skilled Nursing Facilities, even though they are medical facilities, staff will get their vaccines off site. The county says it plans to vaccinate 6,000 SNF workers at county-operated sites.
If you have a question or comment about the COVID-19 vaccine, submit via the form below or here.
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