Slices of Wenatchee: Wenatchee's First Vaccine Shipment
Good Morning it’s Tuesday December 8th, and this is The Wenatchee World’s newest podcast, Slices of Wenatchee. We’re excited to bring you a closer look at one of our top stories and other announcements every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Today, we’re discussing how Wenatchee could receive its first vaccine shipment as early as mid-December.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Equilus Group Incorporated. Equilus Group, Inc is a Registered Investment Advisory Firm in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Equilus Group, Inc- Building Your Financial Success. Learn more at Equilusfinancial.com. Member SIPC and FINRA.
And before we begin, do you want to share your home’s holiday light display with the valley? You can add your festive decorations to our interactive map by visiting wenatcheeworld.com/holidaylights
Now our feature story…
Confluence Health has been approved as one of the first COVID-19 vaccine distribution centers in the state and they’re expecting to receive their first doses by mid-December.
The first shipment will include around 975 doses, likely going to health care workers and long-term care facilities first, followed by other at-risk groups, and eventually full communities.
The first vaccine Confluence expects to receive is manufactured by the American company Pfizer and German company BioNTech. Early data from clinical trials found the vaccine to be safe and 95% effective.
Here’s Confluence Health’s Dr. Mark Johnson, an infectious disease physician in Wenatchee.
Confluence Health officials cautioned in an interview Friday that the distribution plan and timeline are still being worked out, so details of the plan may change. The Pfizer vaccine is also still under review at the FDA.
But, according to Tyler Fischback, pharmacy manager and COVID-19 vaccine coordinator, the organization’s approval as a storage and distribution site — which was granted by the state Department of Health back on Nov. 24 — confirms that it is in fact in a position to effectively bring vaccines to North Central Washington.
Fishback said that there have been weekly calls with the Department of Health and other community partners, to plan how they will orchestrate the largest vaccination effort of the last 50 or 60 years. It’s an enormous undertaking and it’ll be an all-hands-on-deck community effort.”
The delivery alone is delicate. The doses must be transported and kept at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, which Confluence will be able to accommodate in a freezer in one of its Wenatchee facilities. In fact, they actually have the capacity to hold around 20,000 doses in their research freezer.
Confluence Health, is the region’s largest healthcare provider, and they already have experience handling and distributing the Pfizer vaccine on a much smaller scale. It was one of a few hundred organizations across the country that participated in Pfizer’s Phase 3 trial earlier this year.
Another vaccine, this one created by Boston company Moderna, is also pending approval by the FDA and is expected to be the next one delivered to North Central Washington. One major benefit? The Moderna vaccine doesn’t need ultra-cold temperatures that the Pfizer vaccine requires, which Fishback believes will allow it to be more easily distributed, especially to more rural communities..
Like the Pfizer vaccine, it’s also an mRNA vaccine that requires two doses. An mRNA vaccine essentially instructs a person’s cells to create a harmless piece of the coronavirus called a spike protein. In response, the body develops an immune response and antibodies that can fight off the real coronavirus.
The chief of the FDA said on Friday that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated this year. Here he is in an interview with Reuters.
And when the vaccine is finally opened up to the general public, Confluence will work with other local and state partners on a widespread education campaign to ensure the public understands that it is safe and effective.
But until then, Confluence Health’s CEO, Dr. Peter Rutherford has this following message.
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Now, we’d like to take a moment to remember internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso Camilla Wicks who's passing was felt deeply by many of us in North Central Washington.
Camilla, a child prodigy who was recognized as the foremost female concert violinist in the 1940s and 1950s, lived in Wenatchee with her children in the 1970s where she taught violin and played in the Wenatchee Valley Symphony. Despite her unfathomable talent, she was also a humble soul.
Camilla was born into a musical family of Norwegian heritage. She started playing the violin at age 3 ½ and performed the Vivaldi Concerto in A Minor in public, from memory, at age 4. Her family relocated to New York so that she could attend the Juilliard School of Music at age 10. In 1942, at age 13, she debuted as a soloist in New York’s Town Hall and later with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. By her late teens, she was appearing with leading American orchestras and touring in Europe, to critical acclaim.
There were few recordings of Camilla's’ amazing talents, but the ones that survive have been lauded by music critics, including her legendary performance of the Sibelius concerto in 1952. She is survived by three of her children: Lise-Marie Wertanzl, Angela Thomas Jeffrey and Erik John Thomas.
Camilla was a remarkable human being and a masterful teacher to so many musicians both in our valley and around the world.
If you are interested in hearing more of Camilla’s music, she released the album: Camilla Wicks: Five Decades of Treasured Performance back in 2015. More information on her remarkable life can be found at camillawicks.net.
Finally, some local history, Wenatchee Valley History is brought to you by NABUR – your trusted neighborhood community. NABUR is a free online forum you can trust to connect with your community, focus on facts & make a difference. Join the conversation! Visit wenatcheeworld.com/nabur
Did you know that between 1910 and 1930 Wenatchee’s population surged? It went from less than 4,000 folks in 1910 to nearly 12,000 in 1930. With commercial success came libraries, schools, churches, theatres, shops, newspapers, and other institutions.
Thanks for listening. We’d also like to thank our sponsor again, Equilus Group, Inc, a Registered Investment Advisory Firm in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
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