Dr. Lisa Hernandez discusses vaccine distribution in Berkeley during a virtual town hall on Jan. 4, 2021.
The Berkeley Public Health Department has vaccinated nearly 500 frontline healthcare workers since the COVID-19 vaccine was approved in December, and hundreds more doses are in the process of being distributed at local hospitals and senior care facilities.
The city has received 1,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine to date in addition to the 975 Pfizer doses Alta Bates received in December, according to Lisa Warhuus, director of the health, housing and community services (HHCS) department. She described the rollout as an “unprecedented” work in progress during Mayor Jesse Arreguín’s first virtual town hall of the year on Monday evening.
After receiving a stamp of approval from the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup on Sunday, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine may be available in Berkeley later this week.
Set to receive 700 doses of the vaccine, Berkeley will prioritize health care workers and individuals who work in environments where there is at risk of exposure to COVID-19, in accordance with guidelines established by the California Department of Public Health.
More doses will also be provided to CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens for long-term care facilities and adult residential living facilities, according to Lisa Warhuus, director of the city’s Health, Housing and Community Services Department.
Vic Hsieh, an emergency department technician, gets vaccinated on Dec. 19 at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. Photo: ABSMC
Doctors, nurses and technicians who work in the Emergency Department at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley were among the first medical professionals in the city to get vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday.
Alameda County and Berkeley got the Pfizer vaccine on Friday, and the medical center started vaccinating a few medical professionals on Saturday with plans to ramp up clinics at all three ABSMC campuses starting Monday. That’s Alta Bates, the Herrick campus and the Summit Medical Center in Oakland, according to an email sent to staff by Dr. Ursula Boynton, the chief medical executive of ABSMC, which was provided to Berkeleyside.
Alta Bates Hospital workers in Berkeley will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccine Saturday
Update, 4:44 p.m.: Alta Bates received the shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines Friday and will begin vaccinating its workers on Saturday, Sutter spokesperson Monique Binkley Smith confirmed.
Original story: Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley will receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the week, a few days after several Bay Area hospitals started inoculating essential workers.
The vaccine was approved but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11 and it almost immediately shipments began going out to regions across the country.
Ryan Stice, vice president of pharmacy at Sutter Health, which owns Alta Bates, said during a news conference on Monday that hospitals would be ready to begin administering the vaccine “within hours” of receiving the shipment. There is a two-to-three day variance expected between each health department’s shipment, he added.