Local hospitals in Meridian prepare to distribute phase 1 of the COVID-19 vaccines

Both, Rush and Anderson hospitals are preparing to soon distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to their frontline workers. Dr. Keith Everett Chief Medical Officer with Anderson Regional Health System, And Dr. Frederick Duggan, Chief Medical Officer With Rush Health Systems both shared that they are expecting the vaccinations to be delivered to their hospitals within a week, but are not sure how many they will be receiving to distribute.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed in 3 phases. “In the initial vaccination, along with the front-line workers are residents of nursing homes, who are very vulnerable to the virus. So, that’s the first to roll out, second roll out will be general population of people who are high risk. Those being 65 and older, and those with pre-existing health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and then the third phase will be the rest of the general public at large,” said Dr. Keith Everett.

“In this particular vaccine, you’ll get one and then in 21-28 days, you’ll get the second shot, --and nobody knows how long they’ll last, but if it’s typical to the flu shot, we’re thinking six month to a year, but there’s no data that tells us that,” said Dr. Frederick Duggan.

Dr. Everett and Dr. Duggan also stated that distributing the vaccine will help to increase immunity against COVID-19, amongst the general population.

“I think it’s a game changer, and I think it’s a real exciting moment. Now, -- you know it’s not going to happen tomorrow, it’s going to take time to get everybody vaccinated, but you need about 70% immunity to be able to get herd immunity. So, I think it will help us get there very quickly,” said Dr. Frederick Duggan.

“Starting the vaccination process is actually the very first step in us ending this pandemic. Until we achieve a certain level of immunity among the general population, the pandemic will continue,” said Dr. Everett.

Both, Rush and Anderson Hospitals are not yet sure when they will begin to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to the local general population.