More frontline workers receive Moderna vaccine

Frontline workers at four additional Baptist Health hospitals will begin receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this week

Dec. 23, 2020 -- Frontline workers at four additional Baptist Health hospitals will begin receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this week after it was given emergency use authorization and approved by the FDA over the weekend.

Baptist Health Hardin, Baptist Health La Grange, Baptist Health Paducah and Baptist Health Richmond expect shipments this week and have started vaccinating staff. Baptist Health Floyd will receive an additional 975 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine this week as it continues to distribute vaccine to front line healthcare workers in three counties (Floyd, Harrison and Washington counties).

Baptist Health hospitals in Corbin, Lexington, Louisville and Madisonville each received 975 Pfizer vaccine doses last week and have nearly wrapped up administration of those initial doses, but do expect to receive more vaccine in the coming weeks.

While two vaccines are now approved and available, supply is still very limited, with the initial doses prioritized by the CDC for front line healthcare workers and nursing home staff and residents.

Baptist Health has twice surveyed employees about taking the vaccine, giving top priority to volunteers in higher-risk departments, such as the Emergency Department and critical care units, and others, such as housekeepers and physicians, who have regular contact with patients with COVID-19,

Both vaccines have proven very effective (95 percent for Pfizer and 94 percent for Moderna) but the Moderna vaccine is easier to handle because it does not require ultra-cold storage. However, all Baptist Health hospitals and clinics have ultra-cold freezers with the capability of storing about a million doses if needed.

Both vaccines require two doses up to 28 days apart (21 days for Pfizer and 28 days for Moderna), and use a snip of genetic code to train the immune system to recognize the spike protein on the surface of the COVID-19 virus and attack once it’s detected. It is impossible to get COVID-19 from either vaccine.

Baptist Health is in the initial stages of planning vaccinations for the public, which likely will not occur for several months, depending on manufacturing and distribution.