St. Luke’s University Health Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network will receive the first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines in the coming days.

The doses will be used to vaccinate some of the front-line workers and nursing home residents.

“This is a pivotal moment in our fight against COVID,” says Jeffrey Jahre, infectious disease expert and St. Luke’s Senior Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs. “The world has been waiting for this vaccine, and we are on the cusp of being able to provide it.”

The doses are limited, and already reserved according to plans set out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Brian Downs, public information officer at LVHN, said that the health network is expected to receive approximately 1,000 doses most likely Thursday, but added that some of its staff, patients and community members had participated in the vaccine trial in September.

The health network will have the vaccine available at its Cedar Crest Campus as well as hospitals in Pottsville, Hazleton and East Stroudsburg.

Plans to make vaccines available to the general public have not been announced.

The vaccine requires two shots, given three to four weeks apart.

Lehigh Valley Health Network has procedures in place to provide the extreme cold storage needed for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

“Being involved in something that’s this important to public health is huge. This has the potential to impact every single person of our country,” said Lauren Grantz, the health network’s Director of Pharmacy Operations.