AURORA, Colo. — As the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Colorado, Jerrod Milton said he is hoping his plan to administer thousands of doses will work.
"We have a lot of really bright people focusing on this," said Milton, chief clinical officer for Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora. "They have been for about 10 days; to really pull off something that we've never done before."
The Children's Hospital Colorado will serve as one of the state's hubs for keeping the Pfizer vaccine in ultra-cold storage. From there, the vaccine will be sent to smaller medical centers in the region. All the locations, including Children's, will be giving dozes to frontline healthcare workers first.
"We don't typically take care of this high volume of older patients because we are a pediatric hospital," Milton said. "A lot is being thought about in terms of the safety and the efficiency of the program."
Once workers receive the first "primer" dose, Milton said there will need to be a second "booster" dose to finish the process. Pfizer's vaccine requires a three-week separation, while Moderna will reportedly require four weeks between shots.
Milton said the timing of the second dose makes things more complicated, especially when thousands of people need to be coordinated so they receive the booster on time.
"We really want to follow the guidance to make sure that people actually receive vaccine immunity, and so the dosing interval is really, really important," Milton said.
It is common for vaccines to require two or more doses. The Chicken Pox vaccine and the Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine each take two shots. Tetanus has to be done in three.
The vaccine trials showed that side effects could include fatigue, muscle pain, fever or chills for a day or two after receiving the shot.
Milton said that Children's Hospital Colorado is ready if those workers have to stay home from work while experiencing those symptoms.
"It could create workforce challenges for us, but we've been preparing for this and our leaders with contingency plans, and we're going to have to see how it goes," Milton said.
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