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At a news conference after the launch of UPMC's COVID-19 employee vaccination program Monday in Pittsburgh -- the start of months of COVID vaccinations in Pennsylvania -- one of the organization's experts channeled Winston Churchill.
"We have a lot of people who see the vaccine as a watershed moment for us in the pandemic," said Graham Snyder, medical director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology. "I think we're starting to see the beginning of the end."
It's definitely not the end, because it won't be until late spring or summer before vaccines, including the Pfizer vaccine that received federal approval over the weekend, are fully distributed to the public at large, according to Snyder and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, who presided over a separate news conference Monday.
Meanwhile mitigation tactics like masking, distancing, avoidance of non-household gatherings and washing of hands all must continue, they said.
The effort represented by Monday's launch is "unprecedented" in its speed and success, according to Snyder.
"It's more than anyone could have imagined," he said. "It's a miracle of science."
While only UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Monongahela Valley Hospital received doses Monday, 85 other Pennsylvania hospitals -- including UPMC Altoona -- will receive a total of 97,500 doses this week from Pfizer, under the auspices of the
state Department of Health, with Philadelphia receiving a separate allocation, according to a DoH news release and a UPMC spokeswoman.
These initial doses will go to "frontline" health care workers.
Five such workers received shots prior to the UPMC news conference.
Dr. Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, 42, an Emergency Department physician at UPMC Children's, got hers to help show African Americans like her -- members of a demographic that has proven to be especially vulnerable to COVID-19 -- that "it's OK," she said. "It's the thing to do to keep us safe and healthy," she said.
Charmaine Pykosh, 67, an advanced nurse practitioner at UPMC Presbyterian, was the first to get a shot.
"My heart was pounding," she said.
"I'm getting it to protect myself and everyone around me," said Ja'Ray Gamble, 29, a transporter at UPMC Mercy.
"It puts me at ease to know there's an extra layer of protection in addition to the PPE we wear," said Manny Philavong, 46, an environmental services worker at UPMC Passavant.
Pfizer vaccine recipients are expected to have a 95 percent chance of immunity seven to 14 days after receiving a second dose.
It's not clear how long immunity will last, given that there hasn't been time to study participants in clinical trials, Snyder said.
But there's optimism the immunity will be "durable," perhaps exceeding the "natural" immunity one gets by having the disease, Snyder said.
There are potential side effects, including arm soreness and fatigue, side effects that may be more severe after a mandatory second dose, so UPMC is planning for some employees needing to take a day or two off after getting their shots, Snyder indicated.
Because of the severely limited supply — UPMC got just 975 doses Monday — the organization is prioritizing among possible recipients, Snyder said.
An advisory group with expertise in vaccines, virology, ethics and other disciplines developed the principles on which to base that prioritization: maintenance of the workforce, "so we can continue to provide care," maximum potential to avoid transmission, especially to those who are most vulnerable, and maximum benefit to the individual receiving the shot, Snyder said.
The organization will work through those priorities until it vaccinates all 92,000 employees who want a shot, he indicated.
Those vaccinations for now will be voluntary, said Tami Minnier, chief quality officer.
"We believe our employees should take it," she said. "(But) we know there are skeptics."
The organization plans to be "transparent" with its communications about the virus, and hopes that employees will be "reassured" eventually about its safety and effectiveness, she said.
The vaccines — including a Moderna vaccine expected to be approved soon — will be distributed in phases, according to the interim plan of the Department of Health.
Phase 1A will direct vaccines to health care workers who have the potential for exposure to COVID-19 patients and infectious materials, then to residents of long-term care facilities.
Phase 1B will direct vaccines to workers who are "essential to continue critical infrastructure and (to) maintain the services and functions Americans depend on daily," along with those who are medically vulnerable, the plan states. Included are police, fire and ambulance workers, the National Guard and those employed in older adult and child protective services.
Included also are workers in manufacturing, the energy sector, food and agriculture, prisons, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, transportation, water purification, education, child care, laboratories and funeral homes.
Vulnerable recipients may include those with cancer, chronic kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Phase 2 would provide vaccinations to more people in many of the Phase 1 categories, including additional health workers, additional critical workers and more people in high-risk conditions, as well as those who face special barriers for care if they would become critically ill.
Phase 3 would provide vaccinations to the general public.
The speed of societal immunization will largely depend on how fast the manufacturers can make the vaccines, according to Levine.
Hospital sites that are receiving vaccines this week were selected based on their ability to manage the cold chain requirement with the Pfizer vaccine, which needs to be kept at minus-94 Fahrenheit, their completion of a provider agreement and their having provided necessary documentation to the DoH, according to the news release.
UPMC expects to get doses of the Moderna vaccine soon, and will distribute those to its nursing homes for vaccinations of residents and workers, Snyder said.
A federal partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance and CVS Health Corp. is handling vaccine distribution to long-term care facilities, Levine said.
The federal government has allotted $340 million for the national vaccine rollout, including $14.6 million to Pennsylvania, but it's not enough to complete the job, Levine said.
It was "a momentous day," Minnier said.
"But it's going to take time," Levine said. Thus, "more than ever through the winter," people will need to be responsible and follow the familiar mitigation guidelines, she said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.