Owensboro Health received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine supply kits on Tuesday, and officials are hoping the first doses of the Moderna vaccine will arrive later today or tomorrow. Frontline healthcare workers at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital and OH clinicians will be the first to receive the Moderna vaccine once the long-awaited delivery is made.
Director of Marketing Brian Hamby said each COVID-19 vaccine supply kit covers several injections.
Though the first round of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines went to 11 different regional hospitals across the state, Owensboro Health Regional Hospital did not receive any of the first 12,675 vials made available to healthcare centers.
Hamby said officials with Gov. Andy Beshear’s office did not disclose an exact reason for the hospital’s exclusion from the first round of vaccine shipments. Hamby said the hospital was staying focused on preparing for their upcoming delivery of Moderna vaccines.
“We did not receive any specific reason, and we chose not to focus on the first vaccine because we were quickly informed that the second round would be coming quickly,” he said. “Our efforts have been concentrated on preparing to receive the potentially thousands of Moderna vaccines this week and making a plan to vaccine our team members and providers right away.”
Regarding the 11 sites chosen for the initial shipment, Beshear said on Dec. 3, “The initial allocation sites were chosen because they were large enough to handle 975 Pfizer doses; the CDC required they had to have ultra-low cold storage; they had to be completely enrolled as a COVID provider; and we wanted a good coverage area across Kentucky. We also looked at high-incident rate sites.”
Though Eyewitness News reported Monday that Owensboro Health’s exclusion in the first round of vaccine shipments was caused by a failure to meet certain criteria outlined by Beshear’s office, Hamby said OHRH was a modern, advanced hospital with every capability necessary to store and administer any of the vaccines, “including Pfizer.”
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to Owensboro Times’ request Tuesday for comment on the matter.
“We are fully ready to serve our team and our community, and we are looking forward to helping the region change the course of this pandemic,” Hamby said.
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