SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - UC San Diego Health received its first batch of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, and the health care provider expects another shipment next week.
“We expect next week to perhaps get 5,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine,” said Dr. Charles Daniels, Chief Pharmacy Officer at UC San Diego Health.
Daniels added they could receive the shipment as soon as Monday or Tuesday, but no date has been finalized.
The Moderna vaccine is still awaiting emergency use authorization from the FDA, which it could receive this week. Pfizer’s vaccine was the first to get such approval last week.
UC San Diego received close to 3,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine Tuesday and plans to begin administering shots to its highest risk health care workers at its Hillcrest and La Jolla locations Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California was expected to get 393,000 more doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week, on top of the 327,000 it received this week. Newsom said California is also slated to receive 672,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine by the end of the month.
San Diego County has not given an estimated timeline to receive the Moderna vaccine or how large a shipment it expects.
UC San Diego Health was part of the Moderna trial, but Dr. Daniels says it is not the reason for their access to the vaccine. He believes it was coordinated through the University of California Health.