(WHDH) — Hospitals around the country are getting ready to roll out a coronavirus vaccine as early as next week for the most vulnerable, but there are certain precautions that have to be taken.
“We really want to treat this vaccine as the liquid gold that it is,” Dr. Susan Mashni, of Mount Sinai Health System, said.
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is expected to be arriving at hospitals in the United States within the coming days and health care leaders want to make sure the doses are handled properly.
“We have to empty the box within 90 seconds and open the freezer,” a Mount Sinai Queens employee explained.
Hospitals have been holding practice runs to test their vaccination capabilities.
“We want to make certain that we get it right,” Mashni said. “There’s a lot of different moving pieces and parts.”
Health care workers say mistakes need to be limited since there are only so many doses to go around.
As the government works toward the most massive vaccination effort in a century, the Massachusetts Hospital Association says it is ready.
“This is a monumental undertaking, but our hospitals and health systems have both the experience and expertise to conduct large-scale vaccination,” the association said in a statement.
The Pfizer vaccines must be stored in ultra-cold temperatures; however, Cambridge-based Moderna’s vaccine can be stored in a regular refrigerator.
Approval for the Moderna vaccine candidate may come next week.
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