Penn State Health, Penn State College of Medicine plan COVID-19 vaccine distribution for eligible employees 

Based on guidelines from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Penn State Health will begin next week distributing the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use to Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine employees.

The DOH will distribute initial doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to Penn State Health next week. Pfizer-BioNTech received emergency use authorization late last week. Penn State Health may also receive later doses of the Moderna vaccine, which is scheduled for U.S. Food and Drug Administration vote on emergency use authorization on Thursday, Dec. 17. Penn State Health is prepared to store and distribute the vaccine to eligible employees across the health system and College of Medicine based upon a staged distribution process.

“The federal and state vaccine distribution process continues to evolve, but we have a solid plan in place to store, handle and distribute the vaccine safely and effectively once we get our initial and any subsequent allotments from the DOH,” said Vince Lacroce, senior director of pharmacy at Hershey Medical Center.

The DOH identifies three phases of distribution, and most Penn State Health employees will be included in phase 1. However, the vaccine for phase 1 will be distributed in stages, and it may take weeks or months to have enough vaccine for all employees within this phase.

Penn State Health has assessed the risk of COVID-19 exposure in the workplace and is following vaccine allocation recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the DOH and the federal government. An internal Penn State Health work group has developed a framework for staged distribution of the vaccine to employees. This framework is designed to consider risk of COVID-19 exposure from patients in the workplace, with substratification by an employee’s risk of severe COVID-19 disease if the vaccine supply does not initially meet employee demand.

“Ultimately, we believe we will have enough vaccine to vaccinate all employees who wish to be vaccinated,” says Jennifer Sarff, vice president, Penn State Health Human Resources, and the system’s project lead for the employee vaccination plan. “We hope all employees will consider getting the vaccine as one important additional step we can each take to ensure the safety and health of our workforce and everyone we serve.”

Penn State Health employees will not be required to receive COVID-19 vaccines, all of which are currently being authorized for emergency use only. For this reason, staff members are strongly encouraged to learn about the vaccine and consider getting it when it becomes available to them.

Penn State Health and College of Medicine employees will receive communications through Compass or Lion and can express interest in receiving the vaccination. Those interested will be contacted by the scheduling team to reserve an appointment to be vaccinated. Vaccinations will be scheduled based on the Penn State Health and College of Medicine allocation framework and department staffing levels.

All employees are strongly encouraged to keep their appointment times, especially for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, vials of which must be administered within six hours of opening. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine require two doses. Employees must take both doses of the vaccine for it to be effective and cannot mix vaccines from different manufacturers. All these factors will be considered at the time of scheduling the first dose.

For more information about COVID-19 vaccines, consider attending the Penn State Health town hall on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at noon where Dr. Thomas Ma, Department of Medicine chair, will present on the research behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Send any COVID-19-related questions to askacovidq@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.

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