Cape health care facilities begin coronavirus vaccinations

Two Cape Girardeau health care facilities began COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday.

SoutheastHEALTH gave the first of its vaccine doses to health care workers, and Broadway Long Term Care Pharmacy began its role in providing vaccine doses to those in long-term care facilities.

The organizations are among the first in the state -- and nation -- to begin offering doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to prevent the disease associated with coronavirus. Each is working one track of the state's two-track plan, which is providing the first available vaccine doses to health care workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. As more vaccine doses become available, other essential workers will receive them, with widespread availability of the vaccines expected to come by next summer.

SoutheastHEALTH

According to information released by the health care system, SoutheastHEALTH received 2,925 doses of the vaccine.

The Pfizer-BioNTECH vaccine for COVID-19 is seen.Courtesy Broadway LTC Pharmacy

Pfizer's version of the vaccine is a two-shot regimen, with the shots given 21 days apart. It requires extreme cold storage, and protocols dictate how quickly the doses must be given upon receipt.

Southeast Hospital's lab has been part of the government's efforts to study the virus. Therefore, the hospital already had in place the cold storage equipment the vaccine doses require, a release stated.

Front-line health care workers are receiving the first doses, according to vice president and chief medical officer Matt Janzow.

"It's critical that we lessen the stress on our staff caring for both COVID-19 patients and general medical/surgery patients," he said. "These health care workers have demonstrated a commitment to provide care under extremely challenging circumstances. This is a vital first step to protecting those delivering critical care to our most vulnerable."

Janzow said Southeast- HEALTH is working with health care providers in locales throughout Southeast Missouri -- Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Dexter, Sikeston and Perryville -- to coordinate vaccinations for staff.

A tray of the Pfizer-BioNTECH vaccine for COVID-19 is seen.Courtesy Broadway LTC Pharmacy

After health care workers, other essential and high-risk personnel -- such as first-responders and teachers -- will be next on the vaccination priority list.

For information on vaccine availability and updates, visit sehealth.org/patients-and-visitors/covid19-information.

Broadway LTC Pharmacy

Co-owners of Broadway LTC (Long-term care) Pharmacy in Cape Girardeau Lee Schlitt and Kevin Wood said they began distributing their first 975 vaccine doses Tuesday.

The pharmacy is not a retail pharmacy; it serves long-term care and assisted living facilities in the region, and the vaccine doses are going to residents and staff of those facilities.

Pfizer-BioNTECH vaccine for COVID-19 is seen in the special shipping containers required to maintain the vaccine's extreme low temperature.Courtesy Broadway LTC Pharmacy

Schlitt said the organization has added equipment and staff to administer the vaccine doses.

"For us, this is less a business transaction. You sort of feel a sense of patriotic pride that you are part of something much greater," he commented. "I think this is going to have to happen to get all of our lives back to normal so we can do the things we all love to do."

Wood agreed.

"We will be involved as long as this is going on," he said. "It will be a pretty big focus of ours for the next few months."

The pair noted spontaneous applause from staff members as the first vaccine doses left the pharmacy Tuesday morning bound for long-term care facilities in the region.

Schlitt said he expects most residents and especially staff will want to receive the vaccine.

"They want the vaccine because they want to continue to care for the people in their care," he said.

The pair said long-term care facility administrators may contact them directly to receive vaccine doses -- email info@broadwaypharm.com.

As for cost, a fact sheet provided by the organization said they bill insurance carriers for the vaccine doses. Out-of-pocket, a vaccine dose costs $25, though no one is turned away if they cannot afford the fee.

For more information on the state's COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan, visit www.covidvaccine.mo.gov.