Excela plans to begin vaccine distribution to staff on Friday

Excela Health officials plan to administer their first doses of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine to staff in Westmore­land County on Friday, officials said.

“We have requested 6,000 doses,” Excela spokesperson Robin Jennings said.

Excela officials have conducted an internal survey among staff about the vaccine. Employees will not be required to receive it, Jennings said. “Approximately 70% of those responding have indicated they will get the vaccine,” she said.

The Excela system includes Frick Hospital in Mount Pleasant, Latrobe Hospital in Latrobe, and Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg.

Five UPMC health system employees received Pittsburgh’s first doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday: a doctor, two nurses, a transporter and an environmental services supervisor. Allegheny Health Network anticipates workers will start getting vaccinations at its hospitals on Thursday or Friday, said spokesman Dan Laurent.

Vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech are the first authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, beginning what will become the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history. Several other countries also have OK’d the vaccine, including the U.K., which started vaccinating last week, according to the Associated Press.

The vaccinations must be kept at ultra-cold temperatures to remain viable, and several health care systems last week announced the purchase of new freezers to accommodate the vaccine’s delivery.

Excela’s chief medical officer, Dr. Carol Fox, said Excela has one freezer that can maintain the temperature required to store the vaccine.

“However, we anticipate the vaccines to come from the state in special containers with dry ice that will maintain the appropriate temperature for five days,” Fox said last week. “We will be able to recharge those containers with dry ice if need be.”

Later this week, the FDA is expected to decide whether to OK the world’s second rigorously studied covid-19 vaccine, made by Moderna Inc.

Although the vaccine was determined to be safe, regulators in the U.K. are investigating several severe allergic reactions. The FDA’s instructions tell providers not to give it to those with a known history of severe allergic reactions to any of its ingredients, according to the Associated Press.