LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky is expecting to get nearly 40,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week, with Louisville's shipments first going to the major hospitals.
"It doesn't do any good for us to wheel out the coolers and take the vaccine out to people that don't really understand what it is they're getting and why they should get it," Paul Kern, preparedness administrator and mass vaccination planning for Louisville Metro Health and Wellness, said.
Kern said the availability of the vaccine is extremely limited to start, but the rollout will eventually ramp up, with many more providers giving out shots, including at drive-through sites.
"They do expect at some point to have extra vaccine and well have more vaccine than people to be vaccinated," Kern said.
For Metro Health, the priority will be ensuring diverse communities have access and education on the vaccine.
"We'll make every effort for people to get scheduled for their second vaccination when they get the first," Kern said.
That will be one of the biggest growing pains of the rollout Kern said, along with availability of the vaccine.
"People say well this is kind of the light at the end of the tunnel but I don't want people to get overconfident," Kern said.
"We don't know exactly how long that immunity will take to build up so those patients who even receive the vaccine should continue to wear masks, continue to social distance, continue to wash their hands, just like all the rest of us," Dr. Matt McDanald, Chief Medical Officer of Baptist Health La Grange said.
Dr. McDanald said immunity could take weeks to build up, but the real test will be the waiting to get the shots.
"People just need to be patient. They need to understand that were not going to have all of this at one time," Kern said.
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