Covid-19 vaccine management (Comirnaty and mrna-1273 Moderna) in a teaching hospital in Italy: a short report on the vaccination campaign

Abstract

Objectives In this article, we aim to share our experience in the hospital reorganization made to conduct the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination campaign, based on the principles of flexibility and adaptability. Study design A descriptive study. Methods The data concerning the organization of the vaccination campaign were taken from the operative protocol developed by the hospital dedicated task force, composed by experts in hygiene, public health, occupational medicine, pharmacists, nurses, hospital quality, and disaster managers. Data about the numbers of vaccine administered daily were collected by the Innovation and Development Operative Unit database. Results Vaccinations against COVID-19 started across the EU on the 27th of December 2020. The first phase of the vaccination campaign carried out in our hospital was directed to healthcare workers immunization including medical residents, social care operators, administrative staff and technicians, students of medicine, and health professions trainees. The second phase was enlarged to the coverage of extremely fragile subjects. Thanks to the massive employment of healthcare workers and the establishment of dynamic pathways, it was possible to achieve short turnaround times and a large number of doses administered daily, with peaks of 870 vaccines per day. From the 27th of December up to the 14th of March a total of 26,341 doses of Pfizer have been administered. 13,584 were first doses and 12,757 were second doses. From the 4th to the 14th of March, 296 first doses of Moderna were dispensed. It was necessary to implement adequate spaces and areas adopting anti-contagion safety measures: waiting area for subjects to be vaccinated, working rooms for the dilution of the vaccine and the storage of the material, vaccination rooms, post-vaccination observation areas, room for observation, and treatment of any adverse reactions, with an emergency cart available in each working area. Conclusions The teaching hospital of Pisa faced the beginning of the immunization campaign readjusting its spaces, planning an adequate hospital vaccination area and providing an organization plan to ensure the achievement of the targets of the campaign. This represented a challenge due to limited vaccine doses supplied and the multisectoral teams of professionals to coordinate in the shortest time and the safest way possible. The organizational model adopted proved to be adequate and therefore exploited also for the second phase aimed to extremely fragile subjects.

Insights from comparison of the clinical presentation and outcomes of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in an Italian internal medicine ward during first and third wave

“…We can hypothesize that this circumstance may have been the result of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination campaign, that in Italy was started at the end of December 2020 and was initially focused on healthcare professionals and older subjects with frailty ( 28 ). By March 2021, when the third wave arise, a significant rate of the older population had been administered anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, though with significant barriers including social disadvantage ( 29 ).…”

Modelling vaccination capacity at mass vaccination hubs and general practice clinics: a simulation study

“…The layout and potential capacity of these different venues have implications for how the vaccination process is organised and one of the many logistical challenges of mass vaccination is ensuring adequate staffing and vaccine stock to meet demand and keep overall queueing times to an acceptable level. Getting this balance right is essential to an efficient and successful rollout [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Too few staff or too few vaccines may result in onerous waiting times or shortages of doses.…”

Acute myocardial infarction immediately after second vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019

“…1 A messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against COVID-19 has been in use since December 2020. 2 This vaccine prevents future infection by producing neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-COV-2 virus and has been reported to cause adverse events, including cardiovascular ones. Cardiac injury and thrombosis may be related to the systemic inflammatory response to this vaccine 3 ; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.…”

“…The current outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has caused many severe cases of pneumonia and several kinds of complications including cardiovascular events 1 . A messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against COVID‐19 has been in use since December 2020 2 . This vaccine prevents future infection by producing neutralizing antibodies against the SARS‐COV‐2 virus and has been reported to cause adverse events, including cardiovascular ones.…”