According to a hospital spokesperson, the federal government will help launch a mass vaccination site at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with LCMC Health, the New Orleans Health Department and the state.
The site will aim to release hundreds and then thousands of coronavirus vaccines daily as the supply increases. The Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine will be distributed on-site as soon as it is available.
An advisory committee to the Food & Drug Administration will vote this week on the emergency approval recommendation for Johnson & Johnson, the third potential vaccine in the US. If authorized, the company plans to ship vaccines immediately and pledges 20 million doses to Americans by the end of March, according to a statement.
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Louisiana received 90,000 doses of vaccine this week, but demand still outstrips supply. However, officials expect the supply to be large enough in the coming weeks to support mass vaccinations. It is not yet clear when the site will be opened.
“We want to assure the community that when more vaccines are available, we will be ready to offer them in massive quantities,” said Gregory Feirn, CEO of LCMC.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will provide a $ 4.1 million grant to fund the site.
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The vaccine administration on the site will meet Louisiana’s current qualifying groups: health professionals, residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care communities, teachers, school staff, day care centers, home care providers, pregnant people, law enforcement, everyone 65 and over and ages 55 to 65 years old with certain health problems.
As the supply increases, other groups join.
“It is vital that we step up our vaccination efforts to ensure that all of our people can be protected from COVID-19, and we need the space for that,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “I thank LCMC Health for stepping up the concerted effort in partnership with the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center team to execute plans to vaccinate our residents so we can be a stronger and healthier city on the road to recovery. . “
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The news comes after representatives said the Smoothie King Center and Superdome were unavailable as mass vaccination sites due to ongoing renovations.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is ideal for high-end efforts because it does not have the same cold storage requirements as the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and it is only one shot. Johnson & Johnson’s was 72% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease in a US clinical study and 66% in a global study. It was 100% effective in preventing death.
Emily Woodruff covers public health for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate as a member of the Report For America Corps.