Health providers who are vaccinating people for Covid are wondering when they’ll begin receiving the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. It’s the third to be approved for use in the U.S.
For Washington hospitals, the answer is they don’t know yet. Cassie Sauer from the state hospital association says her best guess is that the new vaccine will arrive this weekend or early next week.“We don’t think, at the moment, that hospitals are likely to get much Johnson and Johnson because we have the capacity to handle the ultra-cold storage required for Pfizer and the storage required for Moderna and that other providers, especially those that haven’t gotten any, might be better sources for receiving Johnson and Johnson," she said.
Sauer says there’s also the bigger question of what role hospitals will continue to play in vaccinating people. Washington is increasing the size of its vaccine shipments to the four super sites, including the Spokane Arena.
“I think we are very willing to be vaccine providers. It would be very helpful to get predictable multi-week allocations, to know we’re going to get this many doses. Here’s the kind of vaccine you’re going to get. This is how many you’ll get for three or four weeks to be able to staff up for it," she said.
Sauer says hospitals are partnering with local health districts in many areas to create more vaccination opportunities.