Kelly Bolesta, director of pharmacy services at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, unpacks the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine after its arrival at Geisinger Wyoming Valley on Tuesday, December 15.
Courtesy of Geisinger
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Kelly Bolesta, director of pharmacy services, counts the vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine delivered Tuesday to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center.
Courtesy of Geisinger
Michelle Budzyn, assistant director of pharmacy services; Ronald Szklanny, inventory control specialist; and Kelly Bolesta, director of pharmacy services, open a delivery of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center on Tuesday, December 15.
Courtesy of Geisinger
Kelly Bolesta, director of pharmacy services, and Ronald Szklanny, inventory control specialist, place a tray of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a refrigerator at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center.
Courtesy of Geisinger
WILKES-BARRE — Geisinger Wyoming Valley is one of seven Pennsylvania hospitals to receive a shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday afternoon, according to a release from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
“Each day, hospitals will be shipped vaccine directly from Pfizer and will begin administering it to health care workers at the hospital,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.
Geisinger Wyoming Valley is the first Luzerne County hospital to receive a shipment of the vaccine; St. Luke’s University Health Network is also expected to receive a shipment sometime this week.
The first doses of the initial Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shipment arrived at both Geisinger locations on Tuesday, officials said.
Vaccinations at those facilities will be provided to eligible employees within the next 24 hours. They will administer the vaccine as quickly as they can and as quickly as supplies allow, a release from the hospital stated.
In alignment with Pennsylvania Department of Health and federal guidelines, during this initial phase, they will be providing vaccines to front-line staff whose daily work involves significant interactions with COVID-19 patients and other staff in critical departments.
More vaccine doses from this initial shipment are expected to arrive at Geisinger Medical Center later this week, with eligible employees recieving the accinations within 24 hours of arrival.
For answers to questions about the vaccine, visit our COVID-19 vaccine resources center at gesinger.org/COVIDvax.
Despite vaccinations starting, it is critical to continue following the guidelines that we know work in stopping the spread of the virus. At no time before, during or after receiving a vaccine, should you stop practices like masking, physical distancing and handwashing. It will likely be well into 2021 before enough people are vaccinated to allow for loosening these preventive recommendations.
The other Pennsylvania hospitals that received a shipment of the vaccine Tuesday are:
• Doylestown Hospital, Doylestown (Bucks County)
• Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg (Union County)
• Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital, Lewistown (Mifflin County)
• Titusville Area Hospital, Titusville (Crawford County)
• UPMC-Presbyterian Hospital, Pittsburgh (Allegheny County)
• WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital, Lebanon (Lebanon County)
These seven hospitals are the first of an expected 87 hospitals to receive the vaccine throughout the week, according to the Department of Health.
“The 87 hospitals receiving shipments this week enrolled to be COVID-19 vaccine providers,” Levine said. “The federal government has determined the amount of vaccine and when the vaccine is distributed.”
The hospitals were chosen based on their ability to accomodate and manage the ultra-low temperature storage requirements needed to house the vaccine.
The vaccine will be administered in three phases, with the first phase consisting primarily of health care personnel and first responders as well as residents of long-term care facilities.
“These first doses of vaccine are being given specifically to health care workers through hospitals,” Dr. Levine said. “Hospitals are making arrangements to implement these vaccinations, not only to their own frontline staff but to other high-priority recipients.”