More doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Oregon Tuesday and two major hospital systems announced they would begin injections Wednesday.
One vaccine shipment arrived at the loading dock of a chilly Kaiser Permanente warehouse.
A FedEx delivery woman carried the box from her truck into the building as several people from the health organization watched. She gently set down a super insulated box with 195 glass vials inside, which hold protection against the coronavirus for nearly a thousand people.
The first order of business was turning off the GPS tracker inside. It was the size of a cell phone.
“Shipment received. Shipment status is good,” called out one of the employees who inspected and opened the box.
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The Pfizer vaccine, the first vaccine in America that's 95% effective against the coronavirus, must be stored at minus 70 Celsius. The vials come packed in thick Styrofoam insulation and surrounded by dry ice.
The delivery box was so cold it was hard to open an inner lid. It appeared frozen shut but after some effort, the worker opened it up. The container holding the vials was about the size of a small pizza box.
A team had five minutes to unpack, examine and get the vaccine box in the freezer.
"Want to do the honors?” one worker asked another as they put the box on a cart to examine it. “I'll do the honors! Yes!" said the other as she gently used a knife to cut away the tape that sealed the box.
She opened up the lid to reveal neat rows of purple lids and the fog like vapor of dry ice.
“Woah!” someone said. “OK, looks like a full box. Let’s close it up,” said the woman, moving quickly.
Each purple lid sealed a container with five doses of the vaccine.
The delivery brings hope.
“Today is the day we begin protecting everybody against COVID-19, so we're very excited about that,” said Wendy Watson, chief operating officer for Kaiser Permanente Northwest.
Kaiser treated the very first known COVID-19 patient in Oregon on Feb. 28.
For nearly 10 months, medical professionals have fought COVID-19 with defensive measures, responding after the virus attacked.
The little bottles change that.
“We are really overwhelmed with hope and excited about making our communities, our patients, our employees safer,” said Dr. Mary Giswold, Kaiser Permanente Northwest's associate medical director for hospitals and post-acute care.
Oregon Health and Sciences University received a similar shipment Tuesday, as did St. Alphonsus medical center in eastern Oregon.
In Seattle, Dr. John Lynch from UW Medicine, who led doctors in the fight against COVID-19, was thrilled as the first patients began getting shots.
“Yeah. So, the word for today is momentous!" he said.
Just a day after the first vaccine shipment arrived, University of Washington medical center began vaccinating frontline workers.
“We've been waiting for a vaccine for months and its finally here. I just can’t believe this,” Dr. Lynch said.
Amy Fry, an intensive care nurse who has worked with COVID patients since the very beginning at UW Medicine, was first in line for the historic shot in Seattle.
“I feel excited. And for the first time in a while I feel hope. That there is an end coming,” said Fry.
On Wednesday, OHSU will begin vaccinating healthcare workers around 11 a.m.
Legacy Health will also begin giving their healthcare workers shots around 11 a.m. Wednesday.