TiggerBouncy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2013
I very much highly doubt that they'll require specific locations for the vaccine, once it becomes widely available (whether its 1 or 2 doses) I am pretty sure they'll have a uniform documentation system set up to either give to the patient or for the gov't records. Once they start dispensing the vaccine I have a feeling that doctors offices might be a central point for vaccinations OR they'll set up community inoculation centers to facilitate the process. I don't see this as something Walgreens or CVS can handle considering the sheer numbers of people that would want to get it done, while still conducting retail business on the same location. I suspect it will be set up in a more organized fashion. But I do wonder about them issuing a "Vaccination Certification" document to each person that gets it. that seems like it might be cumbersome and create a LOT of paperwork.
There are a number of complications with this. Depending on the vaccine that is used. The CDC is absolutely leaving it up to commercial vendors. They have actually listed pharmacies as being a possible source for vaccine distribution.
From the CDC itself:
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/strategy-for-distributing-covid-19-vaccine.pdf"The COVID-19 pandemic has likely accelerated a trend towards different ways of engaging with the healthcare system, and successful delivery of this vaccine will need to incorporate new types of sites and approaches for vaccine delivery. For example, during H1N1, once vaccines became widely available pharmacies played an important role in the vaccine distribution; pharmacies’ role is even more critical to vaccinations today and will be fully integrated into the distribution plan. "
But then there is the other problem, and the reason why Doctors cannot serve as the point of distro (and neither can pharma). For some of the vaccines, storage is required to be maintained below -94f (-20c) . (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/m...estions-about-storage-distribution-2020-08-27) Here is where the fun comes in. That commercial vendor that the CDC is using to plan distribution (McKesson) - Their systems can only cover storage up to -20c, a fair bit short of the required -70c temperatures required (this is in McKesson's contract which is publicly available).
This is also well below what any pharma and doctors offices can accommodate and requires specialized distribution sites (this disproves your first sentence).
Then, at play with all of this is that there simply is not an IT system up to the task of tracking who has received any vaccine. (https://undark.org/2020/09/08/logistics-of-covid-19-vaccine/)
"Still, many public health departments will struggle to adequately track who has been vaccinated and when, because a lack of funding in recent decades has left them in the technological dark ages, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. " So just finding out IF you actually had a vaccine and which one will be a challenge - again leaving the cruise lines with no good single point of contact (or any point of contact even) to find out if the paperwork you have is actually valid.