SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota’s initial allotments of coronavirus vaccine will be quickly spent on immunizing frontline medical workers, state health officials said Wednesday.
Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said the state is expecting enough vaccine for over 22,000 people to arrive in the coming weeks. The first vaccines will go to frontline medical workers. After that, the state is expecting a slowdown in supply, meaning vaccines won’t be widely available for the general public until April or May.
An estimated 19,000 health care workers who tend to COVID-19 hospital wards and longer-term care facilities will be the first in line for the vaccine. Next, an approximate 11,000 people in elderly care facilities will be prioritized, said Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon.
The state is expecting to receive 7,800 doses of a vaccine manufactured by Pfizer as early as next week if it is authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. An additional 14,600 doses of a vaccine manufactured by Moderna have also been reserved for the state. The FDA will begin meeting on Dec. 17 to decide whether to grant it emergency use authorization, and the state expects to receive those within a day or two of its authorization.
The vaccines require two doses separated by several weeks, and the federal government will reserve the second doses of the vaccines to make sure that everyone can get a second shot.
The news of vaccines comes at a time when the state desperately needs relief from the pandemic. It has reported the nation’s highest average number of deaths per capita in the last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health officials reported an additional 36 deaths Wednesday.
The state has seen a decline in the rate of new cases and those hospitalized by the virus, but still saw the nation’s third-highest number of new cases per capita in the last two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. One in 144 people in the state has tested positive in the last week. The Department of Health reported 985 more people tested positive statewide.
State epidemiologist Josh Clayton said the state has not yet seen a feared Thanksgiving spike of new cases, but said people needed to remain vigilant in preventing infections during the holidays.
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