COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The first batch of the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer arrived at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center early Monday morning.
After planning since October, when the initial efficacy data was released, doctors said vaccinating the first round of healthcare workers on Monday was an opportunity to put all their plans into action.
“It was great. I think a lot of us have been waiting for this moment,” said Christopher San Miguel, an emergency physician who was in the first group of six people to receive the injection.
Thirty front-line workers at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center receive their first dose of the vaccine shortly before 11 a.m.
“Definitely really excited.” Said Tarin Warns, an ER nurse at Wexner. “I know it’s going to take a long time to get everyone vaccinated.”
For some healthcare workers, vaccination presents a new mentality going to battle on the COVID-19 frontlines.
“Certainly, I think it’s a peace-of-mind, going into work knowing that we have this layer of protection,” San Miguel said.
For nurses like Warns, who has experienced a period unlike any other during her 10-year career, the reward simply outweighs any risk.
“I think to risk maybe having a day of feeling a little under the weather is worth the long-term effect of being vaccinated against it,” Warns said.
A total of 975 doses of the recently authorized vaccine arrived via UPS truck delivery.
Pharmacists will now spend the rest of the week administering the vaccine to those staff members most at risk of exposure.
“As a pharmacist, I feel like it’s our duty to immunize, and I think that was something all of us kind of jumped at right away,” said Cory Coffey, a clinical pharmacist.
Monday’s vaccinations marked the culmination of months of hard work by the medical community.
“It was important for me to do this today, to be among the first, because I’m asking others to do it,” said Dr. Jeffrey Horowitz, a pulmonary care physician
With many lives still needing saved, experts know their work is far from done.
“This isn’t the end by any means. I’ve still got ICU’s that are full of patients who we’re trying to help,” Horowitz cautions.
Vaccine recipients were monitored for about 30 minutes after receiving the injection. No negative side effects were reported.
Ohio State hopes to administer all 975 doses by the end of the week.
Those receiving their first dose this week are already being scheduled to receive their second dose in 17 to 21 days.