As more doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine arrive, health districts are still waiting on additional freezers to store them at ultra-low temperatures. But Moderna’s vaccine is on the way, and it’s not as logistically challenging.
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Moderna’s vaccine for emergency use. Unlike Pfizer’s vaccine, Moderna’s does not need to be kept as cold. That’s good news for Idaho health districts still waiting on specialty freezers.
“The last I had heard on the freezers is that that is delayed and delivery won't happen until early February,” program manager at Central District Health Natalie Bodine said.
“But we do have good partnerships ... and a number of our health care providers have the ultra cold freezers.”
Moderna began shipping its first doses across the country on Monday, and Idaho’s vaccine advisory committee expects the state will receive an initial 28,000.
According to the latest data, more than 4,000 of Idaho’s healthcare personnel and long-term care facility residents have received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Idaho’s essential workers including non-medical first responders, school staff and workers in the food industryare among the next in line.
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