Hospital groups team up educate public about COVID vaccine
NEW HAVEN — Yale New Haven Hospital, Trinity Health of New England and Nuvance Health together will educate the public about details and availability of the coronavirus vaccine, officials said Thursday.
The statement from three of the state’s largest health care organizations came as the nation awaited an FDA decision on a request for emergency authorization of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The health care organizations’ staff, including infectious disease specialists, nursing staffs and laboratory partners, will “provide community education and coordinated care,” including covering “who will get the vaccine first; administration of the vaccine, including when and where it will be available, as well as how the doses will be given; possible side effects patients can expect to experience; effectiveness; and dispelling common misconceptions,” according to a statement.
The first to receive the vaccine will be 204,000 Connecticut health care workers, 22,000 nursing home residents and 6,000 medical first responders, the governor’s office said, estimating that about 20 percent of each group would decline to be immunized.
Leaders of the three health systems described the choice to join to educate the public as a way to more effectively educate people, provide more information about the dangers of the flu, in addition to COVID-19, and help care for residents, the
emailed statement said.
“Speaking with one voice will allow us to more effectively communicate with our community and allow us to better inform and guide our patients,” Christopher O’Connor, president of Yale New Haven Health, said in the statement. “This winter will be a particular challenge due to the addition of COVID to the usual cold and influenza viruses. Working together, we’ll be able to better serve you and your family.”
From mid-January to late May, Connecticut plans to vaccinate its “critical workforce,” people living in other congregate facilities, people over age 65 or health-compromised individuals under 65. Starting in June, the state hopes it will have enough doses to give the vaccine to the remaining general public, including people under age 18.
Eventually, medical professionals from the three state organizations also will work together to give out “vaccines through access centers, pop-up clinics, and mobile units” in communities, officials said.
Dr. Reginald Eadie, president and CEO of Trinity Health, said, “This partnership will allow each of our health care organizations to combine all our resources together in order to provide the very best care for all of our communities across the state of Connecticut.”
Nuvance Health President and CEO Dr. John Murphy, said “We have a herculean task ahead.”
“And collectively, we are up to the challenge ensuring our patients and communities have timely and accurate information and access to the vaccine in the most inclusive and effective way. Simply put, we are stronger together,” he said.
“We have a herculean task ahead.”
Dr. John Murphy, Nuvance Health President and CEO