COVID vaccines are set to be deployed across Louisiana within the next two weeks. Governor John Bel Edwards anticipates all frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents will be vaccinated by mid-January. Edwards says the state will receive 40,000 doses of the vaccine in the first week after federal government approval.
“We think that the second week Pfizer will be around another 40,000 and then you are going to have Moderna come in right behind that,” said Edwards.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Pfizer vaccine is set to be reviewed on December 10th with approval likely a few days later. Louisiana is set to receive 1.46 percent of each wave of vaccines manufactured due to our population size.
Edwards said both incoming vaccines will require a booster shot.
“If it is Pfizer then you have to get that second shot within 21 days or 28 days for Moderna, which I believe is going to be the one we are going to be administering in the nursing homes,” said Edwards.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir explained why a second shot is necessary.
“Although there is significant protection with the first shot it is vital that everyone gets the second shot so you get the long-term protection,” said Giroir.
Giroir testified to just how effective these vaccines are, and noted that both are effective across all age ranges.
“We have two vaccines that appear to be over 90 percent effective, they appear to be safe, and they appear to be 100 percent effective at preventing severe COVID disease,” said Giroir.
The Admiral warned there will be some controversy and debate about who the second wave of recipients will be in early 2021. He said they don’t have that answer just yet.
“There are good arguments for essential workers and first responders but if your hospitals are almost full or overwhelmed there is going to be a larger argument for immunizing the people who are going to be in the hospitals,” said Giroir.
The people who would be in the hospitals are thought to be those already in the high-risk category for the disease such as the obese and those with breathing or heart conditions.
Edwards said the vaccine won’t be available to the general public until May or June and until then we’re still living under a pandemic that is trending in the wrong direction. Of particular concern is hospital capacity. Edwards warns the state doubled the number of COVID hospitalizations in November.
The White House Coronavirus Task Force report puts Louisiana in the Red Zone for new cases, along with the 38th highest positivity rate in the nation. It notes since last week’s report our cases have decreased and positivity has stabilized.
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