The last shots were given on the street around 3:45 a.m., with literally no time to spare.
All night long, staff and volunteers from the Swedish Health Service in Seattle rushed to administer hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine that would expire early in the morning after a freezer function. In the end, they only had a few dozen shots left and about 15 minutes to get it into people’s arms.
‘We were literally like … who can get people here? People started texting and calling and we were just counting down, ‘says Kevin Brooks, the chief operating officer of Sweden, who helped coordinate everything at their clinic at Seattle University. ‘Thirty-seven. Thirty-five. Thirty-three … People show up and run down the hall. ‘
With the final shots, staff and volunteers ran to the road on a cold night and at one point stabbed someone through the car window, Brooks said. One elderly woman with slippers was photographed as she pulled up on the sidewalk when the clock ran out.
It was a well-known story: healthcare workers distribute the vaccine doses at the highest speed, sometimes with the passing vials, sometimes to everyone they can find. These improvised gifts were sometimes controversial, with waste and vaccinations out of turn that sparked anger. Officials are juggling strict plans to prioritize the most vulnerable, with the urgency to vaccinate as many people as possible against a deadly virus as soon as possible.
In the end, none of the more than 1,600 doses that will soon expire in Seattle were wasted, health officials said after a colossal scramble that showed the enormous pressure on those who immunize millions of Americans and the hope that these vaccine doses have brought. The deployment of shots nationwide has been plagued by bottlenecks, frustrations and disagreements over who should get protection first. But Thursday night and Friday morning were full of purposefulness and joy, with eager people performing in pajamas, a frantic activity and at one point a version of happy birthday.
Brooks has said since the early days of the pandemic: ‘We’re at the forefront of this, and it’s been a long year. And now we have also had the great blessing and burden of vaccinating the community. ‘
“The term we use is: we are tired and we are inspired,” he said. “And those two things are true at the same time.”
The race began around 9pm when officials from Swedish and another group, UW Medicine, learned that a refrigeration issue had thawed doses at Kaiser Permanente.
Jenny Brackett, an assistant administrator at UW Medicine, was coming home that evening when the news came in. She said she had read a few days earlier about another group scrambling to use the doses of the vaccine. On a closed highway with little time to waste, health workers in Oregon began shooting at other drivers in the middle of a snowstorm.
“When I get the call, it’s like ‘our snow moment,'” Brackett said.
“I knew we could get the vaccinations there,” she said. “So I had every confidence in the element. I knew our nursing team would get through.” Brackett was ready to go to the hospital around 10 p.m., she said. The doses of their vaccines arrived about an hour later.
“I was a bit like how we’ll get 800 people to show up at 10 or 11 o’clock at night?” she said. “But it was no problem at all, because a word spreads like wildfire.”
Officials say they tried their best to give the shots to people who would have been vaccinated earlier. This means high-risk health workers and first responders, residents and staff at nursing homes, as well as people aged 65 and over, and people aged 50 or older living in multigenerational households.
“URGENT: We have 588 DOSE 1 MODERNA appointments available. 28 January 23:00 to 29 January 02:00,” the Swedish hospital tweeted at 22:59 in the Pacific with a link to book slots, covering the notifications limited to those in the priority groups who have already been cleared to receive the vaccine.
At UW Medical Center Northwest, people like Brackett called people 65 and older, up and down a queue of hundreds who walked through hallways and then walked outside.
“I was a little worried that the line would not be too excited,” she said. “You know, I let others go first. But that was not at all the reaction I had. The crowd actually cheered. ‘
And on premises, officials and employees said workers were calling in union leaders, police and firefighters, even their local grocery stores, to target doses. the people next in line.
Eventually, many shots went to the general public. “The overarching rule was not to waste anything,” said Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington State Hospital Association.
To some observers, the success in Seattle overnight seemed like proof that the country’s vaccination process could move faster. “Idea: vaccinate all the time with this urgency,” a journalist tweeted.
However, Sauer said it was not that simple – at least for now.
“My father is 80 and has Parkinson’s disease. He has mobility problems,” she said. “He can not stand in line for hours waiting for a vaccine. He needs an appointment. ‘
“I think it works as a one-time kind of emergency, and it can work if we get to the place where we really do general vaccinations for the public,” she added. “But right now … I think we also need to think strategically about equity.”
Esmy Jimenez, a 27-year-old reporter, was discussing the scramble on Thursday night, but also managed to get a chance. By the end, she had summoned her best friend, her old roommate and fellow journalists, as staff said their last doses would expire soon.
“Get in your car right away,” she ordered.
Carolyn Grant, a longtime nursing leader at UW Medicine, came out to volunteer with the rapid vaccinations. She retired from her retirement a few months ago in March to help run test sites, keeping track of the numbers across the country every day.
On Thursday night, she was delighted to see so many people flocking to the vaccine that others in the United States – still skeptical – turned it down.
At 64-and-a-half years, Grant just misses the cut for the latest level of vaccinations. But at 1 p.m., she said, the line took off and she got the chance.