CINCINNATI — There’s still no vaccine yet, but researchers said it’s getting close.
What You Need To Know
- Several researchers in the Cincinnati area are doing trials of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer
- Public health officials said they’ve started securing special storage for the vaccine
- Hamilton County leaders plan to use points of distribution so people can get the vaccine
“The vaccine actually exceeded the immune response from people that got natural COVID, so that’s really exciting,” said Dr. Robert Frenck.
The Pfizer pharmaceutical company makes the COVID-19 vaccine Dr. Frenck is testing at Cincinnati Children’s Research Center. The research center is now one of several in the Cincinnati area that are in trials with the Pfizer-made vaccine. If the Pfizer vaccine gets FDA approval first, Hamilton County leaders said they have to be ready.
“All vaccines, including these, have about a six hour shelf life, and we don’t want to waste a precious dose of the vaccine,” said Hamilton County Public Health Medical Director Dr. Steve Feagins.
He said the Pfizer vaccine needs special refrigeration. It has to be at extreme subzero temperatures to keep it from going bad too quickly.
“Those types of freezers are available typically in labs, through our work with health collaborative, the health systems have and are securing those types of freezers in the event they’re needed,” said Dr. Feagins.
He said they could use standard refrigeration and storage for COVID-19 vaccines from other manufacturers, should those become available too, but how will people get it.
Health department representatives said they have a plan for that too. It’s a plan that was developed almost 20 years ago.
“In the wake of 9/11, certain things called points of distribution or pods were created potentially to eventually distribute an anthrax vaccine if needed. Those were also used in H1N1 and we have been testing those throughout,” said Dr. Feagins.
He said there are about 100 pods, or points of distribution in Hamilton County, and the ability to do drive-through vaccinations, but the county’s emergency management director said there are still many unknowns.
“We don’t know how many doses we’ll get, we don’t know if they’ll go directly to hospitals or if public health system will be required to receive and distribute,” said Hamilton County Emergency Management Director Nick Crossley.
He said they are working to find answers and the space to distribute, and have a deadline to be ready.
“Our goal is to be ready at the latest by Nov. 1 with as much as we can possibly know,” said Crossley.
But researchers still don’t know exactly when the COVID-19 vaccine, itself, will be ready.
