REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Health Authority is getting those who will handle the COVID-19 vaccine ready for the roll out in December.
In order to prepare the province, the SHA conducted a “dry run” at the Regina General Hospital as part of the COVID-19 Vaccination Pilot program starting Dec, 15.
In a release the SHA said “The dry run was intended to not only find areas for improvement, but also as a teaching tool to create and refine processes that can be templated and shared throughout SHA.”
Adding, this will help refine the processes to maximize speed and efficiency, so the vaccines can be effectively distributed and administered throughout the province.
The approved COVID-19 vaccine, from Pfizer- BioNTech, must be transported and stored at -70° C, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the vaccine handling, training, and administration.
The Vaccine Pilot team and RGH operational team used a mock-vaccine that replicated the packaging and temperature of the actual Pfizer vaccine, which arrives, packed in dry ice. From entry to the hospital through to storage of the vaccine, the dry run required multiple teams across multiple divisions to run through the process evaluate their findings and refine the process.
Through these processes, the pilot team was able to find opportunities for improvement as to minimize risks and maximize efficiencies.
These findings will become part of the Work Standard that will be used by all facilities throughout the province that will handle the vaccine in the future.
