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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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