City Council, Health Officials, and Pfizer Representatives Hold Hopeful Meeting on the First COVID-19 Vaccine

Ahead of the expected first round of vaccine distribution on Dec. 15, council members questioned the city health department and Pfizer on its logistics.

By: Israel Fontoura

New York is set to get its first round of COVID-19 vaccines this week, nine months since the first reported case in the city.

The end of the pandemic first came into view when, on Dec. 2, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state of New York would receive 170,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Cuomo said that the state expects to receive Pfizer vaccines on Dec. 15, following approval by the federal government, and as of Dec. 11, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the vaccine after Pfizer requested Emergency Use Authorization.

Two days after the governor’s announcement, the New York City Council held a three hour oversight meeting, co-chaired by the health and hospital committees, along with city health officials and Pfizer representatives, to discuss the logistics of vaccine distribution. Health committee chair Mark Levine said the meeting was “taking place at a perilous moment, as the second COVID wave is crashing down hard on our city.”

On almost every day in November, the U.S. reported more than 100,000 daily new cases of COVID-19. Cases are rapidly rising in New York City, which had a case count of 4,079 on Dec. 9 — the highest it has been since April 23.

The vaccine will be distributed in three phases to groups of people based on their risk of COVID-19 exposure. The first in line to receive the vaccine will likely be high risk healthcare workers and long-term care facility staff, according to city health commissioner Dave Chokshi. Those individuals will be first because they’ll help to reduce the burden of transmission and mortality as they continue to treat those infected.

The federal and state government defines who falls into the categories, but Levine said that could have “huge implications.” He stressed that healthcare workers should not just include physicians and nurses but any personnel in those facilities that could come into contact with COVID-19, such as janitorial workers or translators.

Once there are enough vaccine doses available for widespread distribution, it’ll be made available to all New Yorkers. But Chokshi estimated that this wouldn’t happen before mid-2021. New York City public availability is currently set for the third phase.

Tanya Alcorn, a Pfizer representative who leads the company’s supply chain and the global vaccine distribution strategy, said during the city council meeting that, globally, they’re on track to produce up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020, and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.

“We feel that we have built, over the last few months, a very robust distribution model and we feel very confident in our ability to supply,” she said. During the meeting, Pfizer representatives said that the vaccine will come in two doses, one half and one full, about 21 days apart.

Hospital chair Carlina River emphasized that providing more than 16 million vaccine doses will be “an extremely complex and unprecedented logistical challenge.” In order for distribution to be successful, Rivera said, the city needs to coordinate with different sites for delivery, train for vaccine administration, push public education and outreach, and monitor the effectiveness afterwards.

Rivera asked Chokshi if essential workers will be required to be vaccinated before returning to work and if he believes that all New Yorkers should be required to be vaccinated.

“At this point in time, I believe it is premature to talk about any requirements for vaccination,” Chokshi replied. “We still have to follow the science with respect to understanding what the FDA will authorize.”

Chokshi said that he expects that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be authorized, which prompted council member Keith Powers to ask how the city health department is handling people’s concerns about which vaccine they’ll be getting.

“We have to look at the details of the data around their safety and efficacy,” Chokshi responded. “There may be signals in that data that indicate some vaccines are better for specific subpopulations than others.”

From July to November, Chokshi said, there’s been a 35% increase in flu vaccination among adults in New York when compared with 2019. However, assistant health commissioner Jane Zucker said the department conducted a health opinion poll in October and, from their preliminary results, found that 53% of New Yorkers said that they would be willing to receive a vaccine, 20% would not, and 27% were unsure. Zucker added the department will repeat this poll next week to see if the numbers have changed as more vaccine information has become available.

Councilmember Helen Rosenthal then asked the commissioner if a COVID-19 vaccine gives the individual a little bit of the virus to build immunity, similar to an influenza vaccine.

“We do anticipate that there will be some mild to moderate side effects from vaccination,” Choksi said. He then explained that a piece of genetic material, known as MRNA, encodes a specific protein that comprises part of the COVID-19 virus. Because it encodes that protein, it allows the body to develop cells that can identify and attack that protein. It neutralizes the entire virus without having to introduce the whole virus into the body.

Chokshi said the average New Yorker is most likely to get their vaccine through the channels they already trust, whether it’s their local pharmacy, primary care doctor, or a hospital. He added that regardless of insurance status, ability to pay, or immigration status, the department will work with partners across the city to operationalize distribution, especially at New York City Health + Hospitals.

Chokshi said the city’s health department is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make sure that vaccine shipments are tracked in a citywide immunization registry.

“We do have to wait for the science to be totally nailed down and, as far as we know, we will have a safe and effective vaccine as soon as in a few weeks,” Chokshi said.

Bio: Israel Fontoura is an M.S. student at Columbia Journalism School covering health for proxy. He’s a Florida expat on the hunt for the best food and sights the city has to offer.