DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware has received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine, state officials said Monday.
Officials said the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine arrived at Bayhealth’s Kent County location in Dover on Monday.
The Division of Public Health expects to receive the remainder of Delaware’s 8,775 initial Pfizer vaccine doses Wednesday and will begin scheduling delivery to other health facilities.
“If they are prepared, the hospitals can then begin vaccinating staff within 24 hours,” officials said in a news release.
Bayhealth President and CEO Terry Murphy said frontline workers caring for COVID-19 patients will be among the first to receive the vaccine, which requires two doses spaced about three weeks apart.
“We know that our frontline health care workers have been putting themselves directly in harm’s way since March,” said state public health director Dr. Karyl Rattay. “We are encouraging all of them to get the vaccine when it is available.”
Rattay noted that the Pfizer vaccine has been tested on 40,000 Americans and said the side effects are considered minor.
Under Delaware’s vaccine distribution plan, health care workers, emergency medical services agencies, and long-term care staff and residents will receive first priority for the vaccine.
Others in Delaware’s Phase 1 priority group are expected to get the vaccine early next year. That second-tier group includes those who work in high-risk and critical infrastructure industries such as food processing, utilities, education, police and fire. It also includes people working and living in congregate settings such as prisons and homeless shelters, those with certain underlying health conditions, and people aged 65 and older.
The second phase of vaccine distribution is expected to start in March and will include people considered at moderate risk. The third phase, for the general public, is expected to begin in late spring or early summer as the vaccine becomes more widely available.
Federal officials have not yet approved use of the vaccine for individuals under age 16.
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