THE Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is expecting to receive another 7,800 doses of Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday, according to CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna.
“We are expecting delivery date of Feb. 4. The arrival will help us implement our plan to expand vaccinations to more groups on all three islands,” Muna said in a telephone interview.
U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan also broke the good news last week in his e-Newsletter.
He said NMI will receive another 7,800 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the first week of February it was announced this week.
“This will bring the total doses of the Pfizer vaccine to 21,450. Each individual needs two doses, 21 days apart, for maximum effectiveness,” Kilili said.
Also, NMI will receive 3,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine in the February allocation, 33% more than the January allocation, for a total of 8,200 doses, he added.
Moderna, too, requires two injections for full effect.
Kilili said the Moderna vaccine increase comes after the Biden administration announced plans to purchase an additional 100 million doses of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, increasing the total vaccine order for the U.S. from 400 million to 600 million doses.
The announcement also pledged greater transparency in the vaccine distribution process. Vaccine distribution data by jurisdiction for both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines can now be viewed publicly on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
CHCC said that since the beginning, both manufacturers of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and the Food and Drugs Administration have advised not to mix and match vaccine options.
“The vaccines have been proven 95% effective in clinical trials when the same vaccine is administered and following the recommended 21 days (Pfizer) and 28 days (Moderna) apart between doses. The efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine when extended past the manufacturer recommended second dose date has not been established,” CHCC said.
At this time CHCC will continue to follow the manufacturer recommended dose schedule, CHCC added.
