Sentara Healthcare received its first shipment Dec. 14 of Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine. Photo courtesy Sentara Healthcare
Sentara Healthcare and Bon Secours Health System received portions of the state’s first shipment of Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine Monday, and other health systems in the state are anticipating delivery later today or Tuesday. Vaccinations are expected to begin for health care workers by Wednesday, according to hospital officials.
Virginia expects to receive 72,150 doses of the vaccine, which was approved Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and provided to hospital systems across the country beginning Monday. Health care providers working directly with COVID patients are top priority and receiving the first vaccines.
Eighteen health facilities across the commonwealth are receiving shipments of the first doses Monday and Tuesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health, which did not disclose which hospitals are included since the general public will not receive the vaccines until after health care workers and long-term care residents are vaccinated, a plan that follows Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Virginia expects to receive 480,000 doses by the end of the year from Pfizer and Moderna, which will cover most of the people in these groups statewide. The vaccines are not mandatory.
