Greenwich Hospital starts vaccinations
GREENWICH — As Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly announced, “Today we have a new weapon in our battle against COVID,” the hospital administered its first doses of the vaccine for the coronavirus.
The hospital began the process of vaccinating members of its staff who are on the front lines of patient care on Wednesday morning.
“We finally have a vaccine,” Kelly said. “We are going to continue to fight this disease in every way that we can.”
Kelly called the start of the vaccinations “an important moment for us all” and said the sacrifices made during the pandemic by the front line health care workers and caregivers “continue to inspire.” She called them “true health care heroes.”
The vaccine, which was produced by Pfizer, must be given in two doses, with the second shot coming 21 days after the first one.
As part of the launch, Greenwich Hospital held a Zoom press conference Wednesday morning as five employees got their first shots. The public show is part of an effort to persuade skeptics that the vaccine is safe and to inspire everyone to get the shots.
“It is safe, and the vaccine is effective,” said Anna Cerra, the hospital’s chief
The vaccine was delivered to Greenwich Hospital Tuesday evening by the Yale New Haven Health System, of which Greenwich Hospital is a part. The hospital received 2,900 doses, which will be distributed first to front-line health care workers in the hospital and to first responders with Greenwich Emergency Medical Service.
nursing officer. “Pfizer said it is 95 percent effective for all who take it. ...
“We have to trust the science behind the vaccine. I trust it. I’m here as the chief nursing officer and I will be taking the vaccine,” Cerra said. “I want to share that with the rest of my team and the rest of my nurses. I lead by example.”
She said she wanted to reassure the community, which has been living under the impacts of the potentially deadly coronavirus since mid-March.
“The vaccine will not harm you. It will keep you safe,” Cerra said. “We have a duty and an obligation to our patients, not to mention to your families.”
The vaccine was delivered to Greenwich Hospital on Tuesday evening by the Yale New Haven Health System, of which Greenwich Hospital is a part. The hospital received 2,900 doses, which will be distributed first to front line health care workers in the hospital and to first responders with Greenwich Emergency Medical Service.
Dr. Karen Santucci, Greenwich Hospital’s chief medical officer, said that she expects to have 7,000 more doses by Sunday night at
the hospital.
This Phase 1A of the program will also include residents of skilled nursing facilities, but no details were released on when vaccines will be available at the town-owned Nathaniel Witherell or any of the privately owned facilities.
“After that, we will start expanding outward,” Santucci said. “Right now, it is an internal distribution for the health system for
us and as recently as today we started to distribute the names of our affiliates for all of our offices, office staff, nurses and office staff of our affiliate doctors through our community.
“Once that is complete, which we think will be in the realm of the next six to eight weeks, then we will start to expand,” she said. “And our hope across the board that everyone will receive the vaccine by spring of 2021.”
As of Wednesday morning, Greenwich Hospital was treating 35 in-patients with the coronavirus. One patient was in the intensive care unit and on a ventilator. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, the hospital has discharged more than 1,800 coronavirus patients to continue their recovery at home or in rehabilitation, Kelly said.
“Our caregivers’ fatigue is evident in our daily work, but their spirit, their compassion and their resilience is also evident and we are grateful to all of them,” Kelly said.
Among those receiving the vaccine was Piyal Alam, a community physician trained in family medicine with Greenwich Hospital’s outpatient walk-in center in Rye Brook, N.Y.
“It was quite inspiring that we were able to get together and do this,” Alam said. “I was a little nervous, but listening to everyone and doing the research, it really put my mind at ease. It was actually an excellent experience.”
Some side effects include fatigue, arm soreness and headaches, particularly the day after the shot is administered. But Alam said he has yet to feel any of those.
“The benefits vastly outweigh the risks in my view,” Alam said, comparing the experience of getting the shot to his yearly flu vaccine and tetanus booster.
Greenwich Hospital will close its coronavirus testing site on Thursday due to the snowstorm. All testing sites with YNHHS will be closed, and any patients who have scheduled an appointment will be notified and asked to reschedule.
All of the testing sites, including at Greenwich Hospital, are expected to reopen Friday.