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University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics expect to start vaccinating staff next week

If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, UIHC plans to start vaccinating people within 24 hours of receiving their first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine.

DES MOINES, Iowa — It’s a game of hurry up and wait, but it appears that the waiting game is coming to a close. 

Leaders from the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics briefed the media Wednesday, as the nation anxiously awaits word from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on if the Pfizer vaccine will receive its stamp of approval.

Health care workers, along with long-term care facility staff and residents, are first on the list to be vaccinated.

The FDA is expected to approve Pfizer’s vaccine Thursday.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is ready and waiting for vaccines to arrive.

The health care system proactively bought ultra-deep freezers to store the Pfizer vaccine.

RELATED: Canadian health officials approve Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

If it’s approved by the FDA, UIHC plans to start giving shots next week.

"As soon as we receive it, our goal is to start administering it within 24 hours,” University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics CEO Suresh Gunasekaran said.

The hospital prioritized how they’ll vaccinate their staff.

UIHC has four priority levels as of now.

First up are those most directly involved with COVID-19 patient care.

"Physicians, mid-level providers, nurses, therapists, all the way down to the housekeepers that work in those units,” Gunasekaran said. “It's a total integrated team that is going to be prioritized first."

Gunasekaran said from there, all patient care, delivery and support staff at the hospital’s main campus will be vaccinated, followed by support patient care staff at off-site locations and clinics and finally UI health care staff that provide patient care but are not on the front lines.

Dr. Patricia Winokur, the principal investigator for the University of Iowa’s Pfizer clinical trial site, said findings from the Pfizer studies show the vaccine is safe and highly effective but said some may experience side effects.

"It is going to be a vaccine that we do see sore arms, a little bit of flu-like feeling, some fever,” Dr. Winokur said. “The second dose will have more reactogenicity than the first, but these are not unexpected safety events. In fact, the unexpected safety events were almost nonexistent."

RELATED: UK probing if allergic reactions linked to Pfizer vaccine

Gunasekaran said the biggest hurdle with the Pfizer vaccine is getting logistics nailed down.

Since it must be stored at -70 degrees Celsius, UIHC plans to only give the vaccine at their main campus as of now.

"The vaccine itself will require a lot of communication to make sure that there isn't a wastage so that everyone that's anticipated to get a vaccine shows up and gets that vaccine,” Gunasekaran said. “We'll have some backup plans in case that aren't available. But then it's also a two-dose vaccine, so you'd also have to plan for folks to get their second dose in a timely manner."

Dr. Winokur said UIHC has the capacity to store more than 50,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but expect shipments will be used so quickly, storage capacity won’t be a problem.

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