Excela Health prepares to administer 2nd dose of vaccine to its workers, Mutual Aid medics and EMTs

Excela Health employees who have gotten the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine will get a second and final shot starting Friday, according to chief medical officer Carol Fox.

More inoculations for employees who have yet to get the first dose and independent providers will get underway in the coming weeks.

So far, no one has had any significant side effects, Fox said.

Vaccines started at Excela Health’s three hospitals — Westmoreland in Greensburg, Frick in Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe — Dec. 18 under the state’s three-phase rollout plan. Health care workers are prioritized in that plan. So far, 3,054 employees with the health system have gotten the first shot, spokeswoman Robin Jennings said.

The three hospitals in December received 975 doses each. About 450 doses remain from that shipment to be administered because of extra doses contained in the vials as overfill, Jennings said. The Food and Drug Administration has said the extras are OK to use.

A second round of 975 doses for each of the facilities has since been received.

Any Excela Health employee who wants to be vaccinated has the opportunity to do so, regardless of which department they work in. All workers in the system are classified as health care workers, Jennings said. The vaccine was not mandatory.

There have been about 5,500 people in Westmoreland County who have gotten the first dose of the vaccine, according to the state Department of Health. About 178,000 people statewide have gotten the first shot. Pennsylvania has an estimated 12.8 million residents.

Immunizations for those in long-term care facilities started last month, and first responders around the county have started getting the shots.

Mutual Aid director of emergency operations Lorenzo Garino will be among the first to get his second dose of the vaccine Friday at Excela Health Frick hospital. The health system worked with Mutual Aid to inoculate medics and EMTs.

“The process was so painless for us, all our folks had to do was show up and get vaccinated,” he said.

Garino had minor arm pain for about 24 hours and no reservations about getting the shot.

“I felt totally fine afterwards,” he said.