New York prepares for arrival of COVID-19 vaccine
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo shows a thermal monitor included as part of a package that will contain coronavirus vaccines developed by New York City-based Pfizer and its partner, German company BioNTech. Credit: Office of the Governor
A state task force of experts unanimously approved Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, and on Long Island, sites that have the ultracold freezers needed to store the drug are preparing for its arrival.
The task force vote late Thursday came hours after an independent U.S. government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of the vaccine from Pfizer and its partner, German company BioNTech. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave the final go-ahead to the vaccine, according to a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to discuss it publicly.
"On the data that was presented to the FDA, the vaccine was really safe and effective," said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook Medicine and one of the seven members of the state clinical advisory task force.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo created the task force in September to review data to instill confidence in the vaccine among New Yorkers amid a push by President Donald Trump to get vaccine approval before the election and polls showing many Americans believed research on vaccines was being rushed.
Nachman said committee members have been meeting regularly since, poring over data as it arrived from Pfizer and the FDA. She also listened to much of the federal advisory panel’s discussion Thursday, on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, which clinical trials showed to be about 95% effective.
"The FDA tried to be as transparent as they can," said Nachman, adding that she trusts the expertise and independence of the federal panel.
Dr. Bruce Farber, another task force member and chief of infectious diseases at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, said the decision to approve the vaccine was a clear one.
"When you compare the risk of getting COVID, where close to 3,000 people are dying every day in the United States, and weigh it against the vaccine, it's clear," he said. "Nobody dreamt of getting a vaccine this early."
Approval of the vaccine would only be for those 16 and older, according to the panel's recommendation. Children as young as 12 did not join the Pfizer clinical trial until October, and there's not enough data on them yet.
Some questions remain unanswered by the current Pfizer data, "including how long does it offer immunity, and does it stop asymptomatic transmission?" Farber said.
Nachman said time will tell whether people who are successfully vaccinated are still infectious, a task made sadly easier by the explosion in new coronavirus cases nationwide.
"Unfortunately, we are living that experiment right now," she said.
Nationwide, airlines and trucking companies are preparing to transport the vaccines, which Cuomo on Friday said could arrive in the state as early as Sunday or Monday.
A Cuomo administration spokeswoman said the transportation of the vaccine to New York is being managed by the federal government.
When vaccines arrive in New York, they eventually will go to 90 sites statewide with ultracold freezers, Cuomo said. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
"The Pfizer vaccine can last for six months in the freezer, and for five days in a refrigerated state, so if we need to move any of them, we’d be very strategic," said Onisis Stefas, chief pharmacy officer at Northwell, the largest health system in the state. "But by the time we move our focus beyond [vaccinating] health care workers, we expect there will be other vaccine manufacturers."
For example, a vaccine from Moderna, which the federal advisory panel is expected to review and vote on next week, "could stay refrigerated for 30 days," Stefas said, adding that it could be easier to transport to doctors' offices.
Northwell has 19 ultracold freezers that together can store 2 million doses of the vaccine, Stefas said.
Ultracold freezers on the Stony Brook University campus have a storage capacity of 4 million doses, Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky, dean of the Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, said recently.
Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in Oceanside has been "preparing assiduously for several weeks now" for the arrival of vaccines, getting its ultracold freezers ready and setting up a vaccination center, said Dr. Aaron Glatt, the hospital’s chief of infectious diseases.
Cuomo has said the 90 sites would store vaccines for hospitals, nursing homes and other sites without such freezers.
Glatt said he hasn’t gotten details on the distribution of the vaccine, but, he said, "We’d be happy to provide storage to provide the vaccines for other people."
Catholic Health Services has six of the ultracold freezers, one at each of its six hospital pharmacies, said Dr. Jason Golbin, chief quality officer at the health system.
With AP
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David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.
