December 29, 2020: Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Dear colleagues,  

Vaccinations continue today, December 29, and tomorrow, December 30. The focus still remains on vaccinating individuals delivering direct patient care and all care team members and staff supporting them in person. We will keep everyone updated as more groups are added. 

NYP is administering either the Pfizer/BioNTech or the Moderna vaccines. Both have been shown to have over 90% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 illness and require two doses administered either 28 days (Moderna) or 21 days (Pfizer/BioNTech) apart. An automatic reminder will be generated through Connect, four days prior to the next dose, based on the brand received; and of note, the second dose of the vaccine has to be the same as the first, since at present there are no data available on the interchangeability of one COVID-19 vaccine combined with other COVID-19 vaccines to complete the vaccination series. NYP will begin administering second doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week. 

Great care is taken to limit vaccine waste, and thus everyone is asked to come no later than one hour prior to the end of the end time for vaccinations that day to ensure that only the vials needed are thawed. 

As of this morning, more than 17,200 staff at NewYork-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell, and Columbia have been vaccinated. This includes nearly 6,300 individuals on the Columbia Campus who are working in patient care areas, with over 2,800 of them Columbia employees. According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, as of December 28, more than 11 million doses have been distributed and 2.1 million people in the U.S have received their first dose of the vaccine.   

The FAQ and other information materials continue to be updated, so please check the CUIMC COVID Vaccine Information page to stay up to date. 

Thank you!  

Magda Sobieszczyk, MD, MPH 
Chief of Infectious Diseases and Co-Chair of the CUIMC COVID-19 Vaccine Committee  

Melissa Stockwell, MD, MPH  
Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Health and Co-Chair of the CUIMC COVID-19 Vaccine Committee