photo courtesy Hawaii COVID-19 Joint Information Center.

(BIVN) – The State of Hawaiʻi reports it has received another shipment of COVID-19 vaccines.

On Wednesday, the Hawai‘i Department of Health received 3,900 doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech. From the health department:

This precious cargo was distributed to Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children, Straub Medical Center, Pali Momi Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, Queen’s Medical Center West O‘ahu and the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. These medical facilities will administer the vaccines to their employees and other health care workers in their communities.

This shipment represents the balance of the 4,875 doses in Hawai‘i’s prepositioning order.

DOH has requested an additional 7,800 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Delivery of that order is expected next week. DOH is optimistic it will receive 45,825 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine before the end of the year.

photo courtesy Kaiser Permanente

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting is scheduled to meet today, DOH says, and will consider a recommendation to the FDA on issuing an emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine. DOH has placed a prepositioning order of 12,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, which is is subject to the FDA issuing the emergency use authorization.

With federal authorization, as many as 36,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine could be shipped to Hawaiʻi this year.

“These vaccines will be tremendously important to our recovery. Their delivery is significant and our partnerships with the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, hospitals statewide, and the counties have cleared the way for efficient distribution of these first shipments and future supplies of vaccine,” said Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char in a news release. “This collaboration and community support is the key to administering the vaccines safely and effectively. People at high risk of infection are at the front of the line. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through that line as quickly and securely as possible.”