Wayne County's first batch of COVID-19 vaccines could come Wednesday

On Sunday, the first shipments of Pfizer's recently approved COVID-19 vaccine left by truck from the pharmaceutical giant's Kalamazoo facility, offering the first sign of hope that this long and dreary pandemic could end.

And nearly 2,000 doses are headed to Wayne County and could arrive as soon as Wednesday, according to Dr. Mouhanad Hammami, the county's chief of public health.

Hammami made the comments during a meeting with the Wayne County Commission’s Committee on Health and Human Services on Monday.

"Of course we wanted more — everybody wanted more," he said.

He said the county is expecting to get weekly shipments of the doses, which have to be stored in special temperature-controlled facilities.

The initial doses will be prioritized for health care workers, who will be monitored for adverse reactions.

The next doses will go to public safety workers like emergency medical service workers, government workers, police, and teachers. Next is adults with high-risk medical conditions, like those in nursing homes.

The general public will get the vaccine last, which will likely be months from now and require a mass distribution effort.

Still, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

"That's a very broad picture of what our plan is," Hammami said. "We are monitoring anything that changes, and this plan is probably going to be tweaked several times."

The vaccine comes in two doses administered over the course of three weeks. The county is also expecting to get doses of Moderna's newly approved vaccine as well.

Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.