Vandenberg will be one of the first places to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

Vandenberg Air Force Base will be one of the first places to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in more than enough quantity to inoculate the entire facility, its commander announced Friday.

“We’ve been told to expect about 10,000 doses next month,” Col. Anthony Mastalir told the base on a video Facebook town hall meeting.

Pfzier has said its vaccine, which has been undergoing clinical trials for efficacy and safety, now expects to be granted so-called emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

The local news parallels an update Monday morning in which Pfizer announced that its most recent clinical trial proved to be better than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, similar to other highly effective vaccines for smallpox and measles and far more effective than flu vaccines.

While much of the U.S. is experiencing record levels of COVID, California and Santa Barbara County are below the 5% positivity level and stable. SLO County cases are low as well, but the Public Health Department is worried about a recent spike among Cal Poly students.

As of Monday, Santa Barbara County had a positivity rate of 2.4%, while SLO County was a 1.9%.

‘Great day for science,’ Pfizer CEO says

“It is a great day for science. It is a great day for humanity,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said of the vaccine trial results. “I think we can see light at the end of the tunnel.”

Monday’s news jolted Wall Street in a good way, with the Dow opening more than 1,400 points higher.

Bourla has said recently that in “three key areas where, as with all vaccines, we must demonstrate success in order to seek approval for public use. First, the vaccine must be proven effective, meaning it can help prevent COVID-19 disease in at least a majority of vaccinated patients. Second and equally important, the vaccine must be proven safe, with robust safety data generated from thousands of patients. And finally, we must demonstrate that the vaccine can be consistently manufactured at the highest quality standards.”

The company expects to meet its three milestones by the third week of November, said Bourla. It is the first of several companies working on Covid vaccines to reach this threshold for approval.

The study enrolled 43,538 participants, with 42% having diverse backgrounds, and no serious safety concerns have been observed. The analyisis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants. Safety and additional efficacy data continue to be collected, Pfizer says.

The company launched its U.S. Phase 3 trials on July 27. Pfizer and partner BioNTech are seen as the leaders in getting their COVID-19 vaccine ready for public use.

Base commander Mastalir said the “goal is to return to the life we had pre-COVID.” He hopes there will be enough doses to inoculate not just Vandenberg personnel but their families, contractors and others who come to the base — even expecting to make it available to surrounding communities.

Base officials briefed personnel that their participation will be voluntary in what will be a two-shot protocol. The plan is to administer the vaccine twice in a 21-day interval with a shot in the upper arm.

Medical director Dr. Paul Vu assured listeners that the vaccine was ”not a live virus.” The goal, he said, was to build up antibodies in the lymph glands that could fight off COVID-19 if it struck.

Before the vaccine can be used widely in an unrestricted way, it must undergo a trial period of two years. This vaccine has been in clinical trials for six months. But given the pandemic, the FDA plans to allow targeted use under its emergency rule.

Why Vandenberg is a good test location

One fear is that even if a vaccine is proven effective, many people will still be hesitant to take it. But there is optimism at Vandenberg.

“We could be a distribution hub for the Central Coast,” Mastalir said, adding that, with enough people vaccinated, the base hopes to achieve “herd immunity.”

The Vandenberg community is already a kind of “bubble” and may be an attractive candidate to test if a somewhat isolated community with a controlled visitor gate can quickly return to normal life.

Despite what may be good news long term, Mastalir warned listeners not to let their guard down in coming weeks by getting together with distant relatives or traveling to or from COVID hot spots over the coming holidays.

”Now may not be with time,” he suggested.

As of today, base personnel are being told they can visit anywhere in California except Los Angeles County, which requires permission.

John Lindt is the editor of the news website Sierra2theSea.net.

This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 10:18 AM with the headline "Vandenberg will be one of the first places to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine."