Situation Report | December 7, 2020
The state Department of Health (DOH) is beginning the process of enrolling health care providers in its COVID-19 vaccination program.
The Governor announced last week that an initial shipment of Pfizer’s vaccine — covering approximately 170,000 people — could come to New York as early as December 15, depending on the timing of federal emergency use authorizations.
The Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to review the Pfizer emergency use application today, Monday, December 10, followed later by Moderna’s application.
Much of the overall timetable and logistics appear to depend on a range of factors, including the timing of emergency use authorizations and each maker’s production capacity. The Governor said that additional allocations, beyond the 170,000, would come later in the month from both Pfizer and Moderna as production expands, again pending the status of emergency use authorizations.
According to DOH’s website, the state and New York City health departments “are implementing a phased approach to provider enrollment and will notify health care facilities, providers and professional groups as each new group is opened for enrollment.”
Home care and hospice providers, however, are encouraged to get ready by ensuring that they have an account on the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) if they operate outside of New York City (see the NYSIIS checklist here). Providers in New York City have a separate process and can go to the city’s online Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR) page here.
HCA will report back to the membership on any further enrollment instructions as officials continue the phased approach outlined in DOH’s letter here.