Covid vaccines start next month in Washington state. Regular shipments start at new year

The first people in Washington state will likely start getting Covid vaccines next month.

High-risk healthcare workers will be first in line. The state expects to receive about 60,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in mid-December, as long as the FDA approves it for emergency use.

That’s enough for only a fraction of Washington’s health care workers.

The state expects to receive 200,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of December, and expects regular shipments to begin in January.

State officials say they’ll know in early December how many doses of the separate Moderna vaccine to expect, and when they’ll arrive.

The Pfizer vaccine does need to be kept very cold (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), but Pfizer will ship the doses in a container that keeps them cold for about two weeks, so even facilities that don’t have ultra-cold storage capacity will be able to receive and administer vaccines.