Pfizer Vaccine Continues To Work Its Way To Hospitals Across Utah

LEHI, Utah – The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine continued to make its way through hospitals around the state Thursday, as the Moderna vaccine took another step toward approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Intermountain said more than 1,800 caregivers had received the vaccine at their hospitals from Ogden down to St. George, and other hospitals administered the vaccine to their workers for the first time.

“There’s an electric feeling inside the hospitals right now,” said Arlen Jarrett, regional chief medical officer for Steward Health Care. “We are all anxious for this pandemic to pass on and, you know, for life to get back to normal. And I think with the vaccine this is for our best opportunity here.”

Mountain Point Medical Center joined several other hospitals across the state, administering the vaccine to health care workers who are routinely exposed to patients with COVID-19 while on the job.

“But this goes beyond just our employees. It goes to their families. To those grandparents who haven’t been able to see grandkids for a long time. This is the beginning of the end of that process,” Jarrett said.

“I think it’s a landmark moment,” said infectious disease specialist Dr. Kashif Memon.

Memon said most front-line workers seem excited about getting the vaccine. But he also acknowledged others have concerns about getting the vaccine.

Hospitals across the U.S. are discovering extra doses in vials of the Pfizer vaccine.

“Our front-line pharmacists noticed it right away,” said Dr. Erin Fox, @UofUHealth senior pharmacy director. “It’s just a really nice surprise.” #KSLTV @jedboalhttps://t.co/pZfrdSrQku

— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) December 18, 2020

“And that is my concern because we want at least 70% of the population getting vaccinated,” Memon said. “That’s the way we can achieve herd immunity.”

The Pfizer vaccine study shows it’s 95% effective. And two months of monitoring those who received it in the study showed it was safe enough for FDA approval.

“These vaccines have been studied in 30 (thousand) to 40,000 patients. And people thinking that we are the guinea pigs. We are not the guinea pigs,” he said. “It’s been already tested. It has been proven. It is safe and it is effective.”

But questions linger, like whether the vaccine protects you from infection or symptoms, and how long the protection will last. Still, for Memon, the question of whether you should get the vaccine is simple.

“I always say, you know, COVID kills, the vaccine doesn’t kill,” he said. “So, this is an easy decision.”