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NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) — Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will meet to discuss emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Here in Tennessee, we are getting a better picture of how the COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed among hospitals.
The first shipment of Pfizer vaccines will go to the largest 26 hospitals in the state, according to the Tennessee Hospital Association President Dr. Wendy Long.
The state is expected to receive just over 150,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines after they receive approval.
Dr. Long says large hospitals are getting the Pfizer vaccine for employees since it is more complicated to administer and the subarctic temperature it has to be stored in.
Each tray of the Pfizer vaccine has almost 1,000 doses.
Tennessee is expected to receive 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, which will be shipped to all 95 counties and used to vaccinate rural hospital workers.
State health officials say the Moderna vaccine is easier to distribute.
With the limited supply of vaccines in the first shipment to Tennessee, some health experts say it won’t be enough for all top priority groups to receive it first, including healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents.
Earlier this week the president of the National Center for Assisted Living asked governors to change the plan and vaccinate long-term care residents first, saying they should get the shots before healthcare workers because of the number of COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes.
The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved in both the UK — where vaccinations are already underway — and Canada, where the first doses are expected to go out next week.
Health experts say the first shipment of vaccines could arrive in Tennessee as early as this weekend.
The FDA’s virtual meeting is expected to start at 8 a.m.
Meharry Medical College President and CEO Dr. James Hildreth will participate.
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