City update: COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Sioux Falls, no Thanksgiving bump in cases
Dec. 14, 2020
The first shipment of vaccines for COVID-19 has arrived in Sioux Falls.
Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center received its initial allocation of the Pfizer vaccine this morning.
“After being blessed by the sisters, it was put into the ultracold storage, and we intend to begin vaccinating … this afternoon,” said Dr. Dave Basel, vice president for clinical quality at Avera Medical Group.
“Today is a joyous day.”
The initial vaccines will be given to emergency department staff and intensive care unit workers who care for COVID-19 patients in Sioux Falls, he said.
Once the allocation of the vaccine produced by Moderna is received, potentially next week, those doses will go to Avera locations outside of Sioux Falls because they don’t require the same ultracold freezer. Small doses of vaccine are expected to begin arriving weekly.
“We hope to have vaccine clear across the state of South Dakota,” Basel said, calling it among the most effective he has seen.
Those who receive it should expect some soreness where it’s injected and potentially muscle aches, headache, fatigue or a low-grade fever, he added.
“This is just an expected sign of the immune system ramping up for the immune response we need to fight that off,” he said, adding that not everyone displays symptoms but that doesn’t mean the vaccine is ineffective for that person.
“These tend to be very mild,” he said of the symptoms, which typically last a day or so.
“They can be mitigated with Tylenol and ibuprofen, so we can give a lot of treatment that way as well,” Basel said.
Sanford Health plans to start vaccinating workers in Sioux Falls Tuesday afternoon, said Dr. Mike Wilde, chief medical officer of Sanford USD Medical Center.
After front-line health care workers are vaccinated, the state’s plan is to move on to long-term care workers, long-term care residents, those who live in congregate-care settings, first responders, those older than 65 and those with underlying health conditions.
“I imagine it’s going to be a multimonth process … but we will get there,” Basel said. “We will get shots in arms just as quickly as we can.”
The biggest hurdle going forward is “creating confidence in the market for this vaccine,” said Mayor Paul TenHaken, who said he plans to receive the vaccine as soon as he’s eligible.
The city’s COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to trend downward, he said. There was not an increase in cases following the Thanksgiving holiday.
“For that, my message is a big thank-you to our residents and people in this region … who took that call to action very seriously,” TenHaken said, calling on residents to continue their mitigations measures and to support area businesses during the holiday season.
Advances in treatments for COVID-19 also are helping keep people out of the hospital, Wilde said. Both systems have started infusions of antibody therapies for people considered at higher risk for complications soon after a positive test.
“We’re starting to see some evidence that does reduce hospitalizations,” Wilde said, adding some patients continue to become “very ill” and that Sanford has been supporting patient needs across the Upper Midwest.
“It’s really important to continue to take good care of yourselves,” he said. “Unfortunately, you probably do need to look at your Christmas plans just like everyone did a fabulous job of looking at your Thanksgiving plans. … Unfortunately, it’s probably going to be another 2020 holiday.”
But people seem to have accepted that gatherings need to change in the interest of health and safety, he said.
Finally, though, between the vaccine and improved therapeutics, “I think there is clarity we can see toward the end of this pandemic,” Wilde said.
“I’m optimistic that we can have a better year in 2021.”
