'You feel hope': 1st Excela front line workers get coronavirus vaccine
When registered nurse Miranda Donaldson treats covid-19 patients, she wears a surgical gown and mask, gloves, goggles and a respirator that resembles a hood.
Now, she has something inside her body to protect her from the coronavirus, too.
Donaldson was among the first Excela Health employees to get vaccinated at Westmoreland Hospital on Friday. History was made in a small hallway about every five minutes.
Donaldson didn’t hesitate when deciding if she wanted to get the vaccine — a barely perceptible shot that she compared to a flick on the shoulder. She hopes the inoculations will help bring normal life back and that others in the community will get it when they’re able.
“I just don’t know how else we’re going to get back to normal,” she said. “I understand there’s reservations … and everybody has their own rights. My advice as a nurse — they should get it.”
“I just think, as a country, we have to do this,” she said.
Excela Health put into motion Friday morning a large-scale plan to inoculate its employees after receiving its first shipment of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine a day earlier. Each of its three hospitals — Westmoreland in Greensburg, Frick in Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe — received 975 doses.
Pennsylvania shipped its initial 97,500 doses to health care systems this week and expects to receive more. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was the first authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, kicking off the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history. A second vaccine made by Moderna got FDA approval Friday.
In Westmoreland County, 15,793 cases of the virus were confirmed as of Friday and nearly 70,000 have tested negative, according to state data. The death toll stands at 337 people, including 133 so far in December. There were 175 covid patients hospitalized in the county Friday, the most since the pandemic began in March.
Excela Health vaccine program coordinator Denise Addis, vice president of cardiovascular service programs, said about 500 employees systemwide were set to be inoculated Friday. More will get the vaccine in coming days. Some vials contain extra doses of the vaccine, and the FDA has advised healthcare providers they can use it. Excela Health is following that advice, Addis said.
Employees who want the vaccine registered in advance. It was a quick process after they arrived for their appointment — filling out paperwork took longer than the actual shot. While it seemed routine, the implications are enormous.
“It’s kind of like a big breath of fresh air,” Addis said. “It’s going to help the employees, it’s going to help their families, it’s going to help the community at large.”
Staff members in the Westmoreland Hospital emergency department have been upbeat and hopeful recently about the prospect, said Assistant Director Dr. Heather Walker. She encouraged community members to get it when they are able. Walker got the vaccine Friday.
“Although this specific vaccine is new, the process for developing this specific vaccine is not,” she said.
Emergency department Clinical Director John Giesey didn’t flinch when pharmacist Samar Khalil administered the vaccine.
“I didn’t have any hesitation,” he said. “I believe in the science. I believe it’s the responsible thing to do.”
Giesey agreed colleagues in his department, who recently have been handling an onslaught of coronavirus patients, are feeling optimistic. Staffing has been a concern at Excela Health and elsewhere as employees are contracting the virus and off sick or quarantining while case counts in Westmoreland County have been increasing for weeks.
“You feel hope,” he said.
Those vaccinated got a card with their name, when they had their shot and the brand of vaccine. Second appointments will be made in a few weeks for the final shot needed to ensure the vaccine’s effectiveness. Dr. Marti Haykin, a neurohospitalist who works at Westmoreland and Latrobe hospitals, was happy to be among the first vaccinated.
“We’re all hoping enough of us can get vaccinated so we can start to turn a corner here,” she said. “We’ve been waiting for this. I’ve had no hesitation.”
But she and Walker are asking community members to think twice before gathering with family members for Christmas, echoing local, state and federal health officials who all recommend keeping celebrations within a household. Haykin said she recently had two patients who spent Thanksgiving with family.
She will be celebrating virtually next week.
“You can make it work,” she said.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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