1-19-21 pfizer vaccine challenges

The Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer says administering the Pfizer vaccine is more complicated and time consuming than most people may think.   Public Health Officer Kim Mueller says it’s not like getting a flu shot.  Mueller says there are five doses in each vial.  She says it takes about 30 minutes to thaw, and once it’s thawed the vaccine has to be used within five days.  When it’s drawn up into a syringe it has to be used within an hour or it has to be discarded.  Mueller says there has to be a strategy of knowing what groups you are reaching out to, and have a way of having people sign up so you know how much vaccine to pull out of the freezer so no vaccine is wasted.   Mueller says if there is leftover vaccine, she would never discard it if someone on the list to receive it didn’t show up for their shot.  Then there’s the paperwork, including a consent  form that takes about five to  ten minutes to fill out.