Freezers set to store Pfizer, Moderna vaccines

All 5 hospitals in the Henry Ford Health Systems are distribution sites

While Michigan’s COVID-19 numbers continue to be staggering, vaccines from Pfizer are expected to arrive in Detroit as soon as Dec. 12.

Preparations are underway even though no exact date has been set. Lists are being made for who will receive it first and installation of new freezers will be complete by Monday at the Henry Ford Health Systems.

“What’s going to happen, the first batch of vaccines is going to be coming to healthcare systems and counties. Within the health care systems there are going to be allocations,’’ said Dr. Adnan Munkarah, the CCO of Henry Ford Health Systems, in a Zoom call on Wednesday.

He is waiting to hear the number of doses the health system will receive at its five hospitals.

“We know the first phase will include health care workers, essential workers and the vulnerable population, the people with co-morbidities,’’ Dr. Munkarah said.

It will be difficult to determine exactly how the vaccine will be deployed

“We are developing a long list at the present time. The team has worked very, very religiously to make sure we

have all the lists of people who qualify for the vaccine, where they are going to get it, we are setting the locations, who will be inoculating the individuals,’’ Dr. Munkarah said.

Preparation includes having the proper refrigeration units. Pfizer mRNA needs to be stored at minus-70 degrees Celsius (minus- 4 Farenheit) while Moderna mRNA requires minus-20 degrees Celsius (minus- 4 Fahrenheit).

“We have been investigating these specialized refrigeration units needed to store these vaccines and preparing our facilities and operations since early summer,” said Ed Szandzik, vice president of Pharmacy Opera

tions at Henry Ford Health System.

Over the past few weeks, Henry Ford has received and began installing specialized freezers. Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit will have two of each type of freezer. Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, Henry Ford Macomb Hospital and Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson will each have one of each kind of freezer.

All five hospitals have been approved as vaccine distribution sites by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

While the freezers are available commercially, many of the units are on back order as states, local health departments and healthcare providers across the United States and around the world scramble to get them.

“Since we saw this potential need a few months back, we put in our order and made a concerted effort to be very proactive by securing these super freezers early on,” Szandzik said.

The Pfizer vaccine has been submitted for Emergency Use Authorization and is expected to be reviewed by an FDA Advisory Committee on Dec. 10. Shipments could be received by Henry Ford as early as Dec. 12. Moderna has indicated that it will also soon apply for Emergency Use Authorization and, if approved, could be available in early January.

At last word, the State of Michigan is slated to receive several hundred thousand doses of the 6.4 million doses Pfizer says it will ship before the end of the year, enough to vaccinate 3.2 million people.