photo by: Screenshot of Dec. 10 COVID-19 town hall event

Members of Douglas County's Unified Command team and other community leaders shared updates on the county's COVID-19 response in a virtual town hall event on Dec. 10.

In a virtual COVID-19 town hall event, LMH Health’s director of pharmacy said the hospital could receive doses of the Pfizer vaccine sometime next week.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel recommended that the FDA authorize the vaccine and the FDA is expected to do so within days, according to The New York Times.

Christina Crowley, the director of pharmacy at LMH Health, said the fact that Kansas could have doses of the vaccine next week is “incredibly exciting for our state.”

The vaccine supply will be limited initially, Crowley said, and the quantity of doses Douglas County will receive is unknown at this time.

One week ago, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health said in a press release that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) estimates that about 6,000 health care workers and 1,300 hospital employees in Douglas County will qualify to receive the vaccine in the initial phase.

Crowley said that LMH Health has triaged employees based on exposure risk as defined by the amount of time spent directly with a patient and exposure to high risk procedures or care, and that the health department has asked other health care employers in the county to do the same.

The Pfizer vaccine requires storage in an ultra-cold freezer that can reach temperatures as low as negative 84 degrees celsius, Crowley said. To help LMH Health meet that need, the owners of local company Pinnacle Technology Inc. have donated a large ultra-cold freezer to the hospital.

“This donation will make a huge impact on the quantity of vaccines we’re able to accept from the state,” Crowley said.

The Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be approved soon after the Pfizer vaccine, can be stored at normal freezer temperatures, Crowley said.

The fact that both vaccines require two doses — the Pfizer vaccine 21 days apart and the Moderna vaccine 28 days apart — will make the distribution process “a little more tricky,” Crowley said, noting that two doses means “double the challenge.”

Dan Partridge, director of Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, said he was around during H1N1 vaccine distribution, and that it gives him a little “tightness in the throat” to think of the larger magnitude of the current task. But he also said, “I think we are ready to succeed in this.”

LMH Health will have a vaccine drive-thru center at the northwest corner of its campus. In response to a question from a community member about whether or not the COVID-19 vaccines will have a waiting period similar to receiving a flu shot, Crowley said they are recommending a 15-minute observation period and there will be an area for observation at the drive-thru site.

In other news at the meeting, Partridge discussed the number of deaths due to COVID-19 within the county. As of Thursday, Douglas County reported 29 deaths to date.

Partridge said that about one third of the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the county have occurred in the last 30 days. He also said that Douglas County has a death rate of 24 per 100,000, compared to a COVID-19 death rate in Kansas of 70 per 100,000.

Why does Douglas County have a lower death rate?

“I have to believe that in large part we’ve limited the number of opportunities for that infectious person to come in contact with those that are most vulnerable,” Partridge said. He then emphasized the importance of wearing masks.

Partridge also shared that there were 13 deaths in the county due to the flu and pneumonia last year.

“So we’ve already more than doubled that for COVID,” he said. Partridge added that while it’s good Douglas County’s death rate is about one third that of the state, “it’s still a very significant driver of death in our community and one that we need to not take lightly or try to marginalize.”

Dr. Christopher Penn, an infectious disease physician at LMH Health, shared some more information about the flu. He said that as of the beginning of November, LMH Health had tested 940 people for the flu, and only one person was positive. And in the past two weeks, out of 353 tests, none had come back positive. Penn said he’s hopeful that the flu will remain relatively inactive this season.

In response to a question from a community member, LMH Health infectious disease doctor Jennifer Schrimsher said she was comfortable having fans inside The University of Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse. At Tuesday night’s game, there were around 2,500 fans.

Schrimsher said she felt better about the situation after doing a walkthrough of the arena and going through the plan with KU officials. She said if protocols are followed, she feels the risk for people attending the game is “extremely low.”

“So, I’m actually very comfortable,” Schrimsher said. “I’m not one that likes to compromise on things like that, and I don’t feel like I did.

To conclude the COVID-19 town hall event, LMH Health president and CEO Russ Johnson expressed his gratitude for the community and those participating in the call. He said he has colleagues in the health care industry in cities nearby who are really struggling, and that the current situation in Lawrence and Douglas County is a tribute to the good practices of the community members.