Okla. Expected To Receive COVID-19 Vaccine This Week

The first shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are expected to be delivered to states across the country this week.

Oklahoma is expected to receive 33,000 of them this Wednesday.

By the end of the year, State Health Commissioner Lance Frye said he believes Oklahoma will get around 166,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. That’s 120,000 more than originally thought.

Right now the state said frontline workers will get the shot first. The general public could get vaccinated by Spring of 2021.

The State Health Commissioner said there’s a possibility people could get the shots sooner than that.

“The phases don’t have any big walls in-between them. We have 1,000 doses next week at a healthcare center and they only have 700 frontline workers,” said Dr. Frye. “We will use the other 300 on whoever is there whether they are healthcare workers or not.”

Health Commissioner Frye said the plans are very fluid and could change on a daily basis.

OU Health’s Chief of Infectious Diseases Dr. Douglas Drevets said he sees a light at the end of the tunnel, as long as Oklahomans trust and get the vaccine.

“I am hopeful that the end of February and into March we will see serious drops in the numbers of new infections,” said Dr. Drevets. “Maybe it will happen before then. And I am hopeful that that trend will continue throughout the Spring as we roll out new vaccinations and I hope we can all look forward to a great Summer.”