A vaccine for the COVID-19 virus could potentially be available as soon as the week of Dec. 14 if it is approved by a regulatory agency, North Dakota health officials said during a state briefing on Wednesday.

Molly Howell, immunization program manager for the state health department, said 6,800 doses of a vaccine made by Pfizer could be made available that week. As the available doses will be limited, a state advisory committee is recommending that they first be administered to frontline health care workers at the four “referral hospitals” in the state who have been treating the majority of patients who are critically ill with the virus. The goal is to stabilize the health care workforce so they will stay healthy and able to care for patients.

Other health care workers with direct patient contact and then long term care residents would be next on the list to be vaccinated, followed by critical infrastructure workers such as police, firefighters, child care workers and teachers and the elderly and people with underlying health conditions. Howell said that a vaccine would likely not be made available to the general population until next spring or early summer.

A deal has been worked out for two pharmacies, CVS Pharmacy and Thrifty White Pharmacy, to vaccinate people at about 80 nursing homes and long term care units in the state. Other nursing homes or long terms care units have opted to use other pharmacies or medical providers.

About 13,000 doses second vaccine, made by Moderna, could potentially be approved for use and shipped to the state by the week of Dec. 20.

The state has about 70,000 health care workers and 12,000 long term care residents, so vaccines will not be administered to all of those people at first.

Each of the vaccines, which have not yet been approved for use in the United States, requires two doses. Doses of the Pfizer vaccine must be administered three weeks apart and dosages of the Moderna vaccine must be administered four weeks apart. The plan calls for the vaccines to be totally funded by the federal government, though health care providers can charge a fee or bill insurance for the cost of administering the vaccine. There will be no mandate for people to get the vaccine, though individual employers may set conditions for people who do not get it.

The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at -70 Celsius; the Moderna vaccine must be stored at freezing temperatures. Howell said there is a plan for storing and distributing the vaccine throughout the state. Further updates will be posted regularly on the Health Department website.

Dr. Paul Carson, of North Dakota State University in Fargo, said the vaccines appear to be safe. Test results suggest some people might experience side effects such as fever, headache, fatigue or a sore arm but the symptoms subside within a day or two. Carson said he plans to get the vaccine himself and will recommend that everyone he knows gets it. The only way out of the pandemic is if 70 percent or more of the population gets vaccinated.

North Dakota and in particular Ward County, which saw a high number of cases hit nursing homes, has seen a large number of deaths and hospitalizations due to the coronavirus. As of Wednesday, there were 966 deaths due to coronavirus and 5,236 active cases in the state.

The governor issued a statewide mask mandate and tightened restrictions on businesses last month. The mandate extends through Dec. 14.

Trinity Hospital – St. Joseph’s in Minot also announced on Wednesday that it is tightening restrictions on visitation to match the stricter limits that had been put in place at Trinity Hospital last month. Under the guidelines, no visitors will be permitted except in specific circumstances. Children will be able to have two parents with them; a same day surgery patient can have one visitor who must remain in the patient cubicle during surgery. There will be a limit of one visitor for out patient procedures and the visitor must remain in the patient room during the procedure. There will also be a limit of one visitor for kidney dialysis patients. End of life patients can have three visitors, but prior permission is needed for children to visit. No one can visit a patient who has tested positive for COVID-19 except for one parent or guardian, who must remain in the patient’s room, for a child patient. Pre-approval is required for people to visit dying patients who have tested positive for COVID-19. Waiting areas and lobbies are closed and all visitors will be screened, must wear face masks and obtain a visitor’s badge.