UK Healthcare prepares to distribute COVID-19 vaccine

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Hospitals are preparing for shipments of the coronavirus vaccine.

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The University of Kentucky is one of the 11 hospitals receiving the first shipment in Kentucky. They’re also part of a national distribution readiness test for the Pfizer vaccine.

The hospital says it received a test shipment Thursday. Pfizer shipped a temperature probe to ensure that vaccine would arrive safely.

That vaccine has to be kept very cold, around -70 degrees celsius.

It still has to be approved by the FDA. The chief pharmacist for UK Healthcare said if everything goes according to plan they could begin vaccinating high-risk employees as early as December 14.

Friday morning, they talked about how they’re going to roll out test doses and make sure employees are prepared:

That vaccine does require a second dose, a booster, 21 days after the first dose. They say they anticipate receiving that second shipment before those 21 days would be up.