Bridgeport Hospital gets first shipment of vaccine.
BRIDGEPORT — Bridgeport Hospital joined others in the region in receiving its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday evening and the first group of employees received the vaccine Wednesday morning.
Dr. Gregory Buller, who was the first at the hospital to receive the shot, said getting the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was one of the easiest experiences he’d ever had getting a shot. “It was less painful than the flu vaccine,” said Buller, associate chief medical officer and chairman of the department of medicine. “It wasn’t difficult at all.”
Even more important than the relative ease of getting the vaccine is what it could mean in the long run, he said. “I see COVID patients,” Buller said. “(The vaccine) certainly gives me a tremendous feeling of security for my personal safety.”
The hospital’s intensive care unit remains full of patients, many of them on ventilators due to COVID-19, Buller said. He’s hoping that the rollout of the vaccine means the state and nation
are nearing the end of these hospitalizations and deaths.
Bridgeport Hospital, part of the Yale New Haven Health system, is one of many in the region to receive the vaccine and start treating
staff. Yale New Haven Hospital and Greenwich Hospital (also in the Yale health
system) received vaccines Tuesday, as did St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridge
port. St. Vincent’s is part of the Hartford HealthCare system, which received the vaccine Monday.
Griffin Health in Derby is slated to receive 975 doses this week, according to a news release. Griffin started administering the vaccine to staff members Tuesday around noon and will be holding ongoing vaccination clinics at the hospital for staff. The first to receive the vaccine was Griffin Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Frederick Browne.
The vaccine is being administered in two doses over several weeks, beginning with staff who interact regularly with COVID-19 patients. A hospital spokesperson said the hope is to vaccinate all staff at its Bridgeport and Milford inpatient campuses and outpatient facilities.
The hospital expects to supplement its Pfizer supply with the Moderna vaccine expected to be authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week. Shipments of the Moderna vaccine are expected to begin arriving Monday.