Health Care Workers COVID-19 Vaccine:

My name is Dr Cathleen nimbi and I’m an emergency physician at humbler river hospital and the physician lead for the obit emergency response here if healthcare workers are among st one of the first groups to get the vaccine here in Canada it means a significant exhale i would say it's something that we have all wanted for a long time so all of us have seen our patients especially those that are vulnerable especially the elderly really suffer when affected by this virus and we have seen families suffer through this and so the thought that we could actually have a vaccine.

That is delivered first to these vulnerable populations to create a bit of a safety net for them that they have not had through this pandemic we've never had a global community like this with so many people with their expertise all coming together rallying around the same cause and feeling the urgency to get to that end product and so i think that that's also something that we have to keep in mind when we ask those questions about how did this happen so quickly this changes my life significantly as it does for everybody i would say when we get to the point where we're past just that sort of first layer in terms of vaccinating uh those that are in the highest risk group and we're actually moving out to larger and broader sections of the community this means that we get back some of our human disconnectedness that we can have in terms of face-to-face connections with those closest to us and for me personally there's no way to really express.   

                             

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

COVID-19 Vaccine

What this the healthcare community has gone through when it comes to really dealing with our own vulnerability when we were the rear of your psyche dread of am I going to make my youngsters debilitated am I going to make my folks or me or my mate wiped out you can't underestimate how much that weighs on people every day we will look for leaders among st us to get vaccinated to speak about the values of vaccination to help guide the public there are others that like to get that information in their hands and really understand what this means to them personally and for those people i would say knowledge is power go out there and learn as much as you can about the vaccine to help you get ready to pull up your sleeve and get your vaccine for yourself i am very excited i didn't sleep all night thinking about it jenny Driller is taking us behind the curtain for an inside look at history in the making as an ice nurse she's the very first person at mount Sinai west in New York city to get the covid 19 vaccine some of my nurses had reservations you know you have to lead by example and once they see I’m okay I’ve already convinced three of them to schedule appointments today spontaneous cheers and tears of joy for the best news.                                             

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

This hospital has had since march when their first Co vent patient came through the doors marathon runner Rodrigo saved mount Sinai was at the epicenter of the pandemic many here treated their own colleagues and watched hundreds of others die we were dragging my nurses would get sick and go out for two weeks and come back and just jump right in we were working 16 hours they were picking up shifts i mean they really they came to fight this war but today's vaccine reminds jenny of the day saved was released two months after he arrived it was a great day and we all needed that win and it kind of feels that way again today we've been struggling with this you know for almost a year I’m old enough to have been vaccinated for smallpox and you think of what a scourge that disease was and it's been wiped out it's extinct that's what a vaccine can do i also was an intern in this hospital in 1981 to 83 when age was at its peak and we had friends from college colleagues dying from it we didn't have a vaccine for that scourge we still don't we still don't so it's really this is the beginning of the healing it's really important to us and it's very important that we can help protect our staff and the public for ice doctor James Salonika today brings him one step closer to reuniting with his family both his parents were treated for severe covid in Connecticut’s ices back in march you know my parents didn't know I’m getting the vaccine today they do not want to go through this again and so their feeling is even though they've had it and they presumably have antibodies.           

               

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

They want the vaccine anyway they want the vaccine my parents have no co morbidity and all of a sudden they get sick right critically ill so you never know who's going to get critically ill with this virus the effort to get as many doses of the vaccine into arms of those on the front line is accelerating eagerly awaiting their delivery hospitals across the country now implementing their meticulously laid out plans to distribute the vaccine to those most exposed to the virus dry Christie woods oversees the vaccination program at mount Sinai west we're hopeful that in the next month or so we'll have gone through a significant part of the staff how do you prioritize who gets it when so the state did give us a framework that we're expected to follow which laid out among st the healthcare workers also picking the ones that were more likely to be in touch with somebody who has the disease so as you can imagine the emergency room doctors and not just the doctors but the nurses the people that help clean the hospital the case managers in that area so we think of them in zones as opposed to you know titles and units we're not holding one job title sort of to a higher standard or to higher priority.    

                              

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

Than any other so far only the Pfizer vaccine is available but soon there will be a second weapon in the arsenal against covid19 i expect that later this week the fad is going to authorize the modern vaccine again the data looks really good and just like we saw with Pfizer i expect next week we're going to start seeing modern vaccines roll out uh to Americans and that Americans will start getting vaccinated from that vaccine probably next week we know that uh we're going to ship just a little bit uh short of six million doses out to the American people and we're shipping it to 3285 locations across the country modern’s vaccine is equally effective as Pfizer’s but easier to distribute not requiring the ultra cold freezers part of the reason we've seen all the vaccinations so far at hospitals is you really have to have the infrastructure to manage the super frozen Pfizer vaccine moderns is different it's a little bit easier and so i do expect it to be seen in more clinics and pharmacies definitely in more rural areas places where being able to have a freezer may be harder to get but as the vaccine roll out is underway covid cases continue to explode around the country the us seeing a record number of deaths last week Friday was the deadliest day of the pandemic with 3 309 lives lost in Los angels the situation so dire less than 100 ice beds left in the entire county I want you guys to all shift your mindsets to disaster mode governor Gavin newsroom activating the state's mass fatality program ordering five thousand additional body bags there is light at the end but we're still in the tunnel and that means we're going through perhaps the most intense and urgent moment since the beginning of this pandemic the cdc has determined that each state gets to decide who receives the vaccine first and many states have prioritized health care workers and the elderly in assisted living almost 40 percent of the deaths have been in these assisted care facilities it's awful and so it's critical that we get the staff in these places and the residents in these places vaccinated as quickly as possible.          

                                                       

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

The sister facilities of Sharon brook and chapel grove in central Ohio know how deadly the virus would be if even one resident got infected the elderly are so vulnerable to the corona virus and they have the highest mortality rates so we knew that once it reached our facility it would be too late so back in march the staff moved in with the residents and went into lockdown i packed my bags and i said you know what mom dad my sister i said i love you guys I’ll see you when it's all over i said it could be three weeks it could be two months it'll be four months I don't know when it's going to end but I do know that the residents do me do need me and I’m going to be there for them and I just you know i was like i have 124 grandparents uh here so i mean that was a big thing for me we have had staff members miss the first births of their grandchild we have had moms miss their kids first birthdays there was no physical contact from loved ones for the entire staff or the residents.                                                          

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

But that's my boyfriend back behind me and he likes to come and visit me but yeah we have to use our phones and talk through the glass hi dad how are you how are you i love you i miss you it was not easy it definitely can take a toll obviously i miss my family my son is a senior this year so he's not only missing his mom at home he's missing prom and possibly graduation and his 18th birthday is coming up and I’ll still be here so it can be discouraging and heartbreaking you know i work my hardest every day to dig deep and remember why i became a provider and why I’m here but it worked 65 days during that time no one got sick not a single resident lost to coven at the end of July when the infection rate in Ohio crept back up they decided once again to make the sacrifice 32 days in lockdown once again no cases no deaths now the staff and residents are anxiously awaiting their chance to get the life-saving vaccine the vaccines are coming so soon we are so ready for the vaccines even singing.

                                              

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

Their own version of all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth with the virus now surging outside their doors the staff is discussing going into lockdown a third time over the holidays I’m just glad that all of our hard work and sacrifice has kept our you know grandparents to save so to speak safe they agree if this is what needs to be done they'll do it again in a heartbeat i knew that if we were locking down and the residents needed my care that i needed to be there for them these are my residents these are my family members these are the people that I need to take care of me I’m going to do that I’m doing that because i love them today the staff and residents.

                                 

Health Care Workers Covid Vaccine

Here got some welcome news their shipment of the vaccine could arrive just after new year's day and by mid-January the staff at mount Sinai west in new York city are hoping to have some protection from the deadly virus a fitting end perhaps to a season of hope I think it's a great moment in history I think it finally gives hope that things are going to be on the uptick to back to a more normal life for the first time in a long time you need hope and you need faith hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking.