Ringing up his 1,000th shot
‘People need something to celebrate,’ pharmacist says after delivering milestone dose,
Pharmacist Kyro Maseh says coming in to work used feel like going to war. Every morning, he’d kiss his kids goodbye and hope he wouldn’t “bring death home” with him.
Those were fearful times last spring — COVID-19 transmission wasn’t as well understood, neither Maseh nor his staff had access to PPE and vaccines were a distant dream.
From that terror came a desperate need for levity, something to make the days he felt he was sitting there “waiting for death to happen” pass easier.
It started with little things, joking with patients, getting gadgets like laser pointers for staff — anything to cut the tension.
Now, more than year into the pandemic, Maseh has upped the ante considerably. On Wednesday, he brought confetti, choreography for a dance routine, streamer cans and speakers to play “Shots” by LMFAO into his workplace, Pharmasave Lawlor in the Beaches.
All that was to mark the moment the pharmacy administered its 1,000th vaccine dose. To Maseh, that’s 1,000 people better protected, from the ICU and from a litany of serious symptoms of COVID-19.
“People need something to celebrate, to cheer them up, to lift up their spirits,” said Maseh. “The atmosphere of the pandemic has been very stressful for everybody.”
Prior to his 1,000-dose bash, Maseh had taken to commemorating every vaccine vial he administered. To him, each one represented a small victory over a virus that made him feel scared and helpless all year.
After each vial is emptied, Maseh emerges, ringing a bell and yelling, “Shots in the arm!”
His staff responds: “COVID’s gone!”
Once it was announced the AstraZeneca vaccine would be distributed in pharmacies, Maseh threw his hat in the ring right away. After months at war, he wanted a weapon.
“The whole pandemic, I felt my hands were tied,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything to help. So when I found out I could start vaccinating people, I jumped on it, I went full-force.”
Maseh started coming on his days off and keeping the pharmacy open into the night. Pharmasave Lawlor usually closes at 5 p.m. Tuesday night, he was there until 10:30 p.m.
“I feel so fortunate that I’m contributing to the solution to this pandemic,” said Maseh. “I don’t get it when people thank me for the vaccine — I feel personally privileged that I did something and that I don’t feel helpless every day anymore.”
Maseh said he started the bell ritual to make patients feel accomplished and rewarded. “Vaccination is a reason to celebrate, it’s our way out of the pandemic,” he said.
Maseh said he got the idea from Ribfest. One restaurant would ring a bell and chant every time they got a tip.
“I thought that was pretty neat, why not do something similar at the pharmacy?” he said, before buying a bell online. Maseh stressed that he didn’t own a bell before he started the call-and-response routine — “I’m not that weird!”
Patients and people who have seen videos of him doing it online loved it — Maseh said he gets told how beautiful and uplifting the act is all the time.
“I just burped out the idea one night and my wife made fun of me for it,” he said. “My staff laughed at me. I had a student at the time and he laughed at me too — he said, ‘That doesn’t even rhyme!’ But I did it anyway. Joke’s on them!”
Maseh and other pharmacists were glad the minimum age for the AstraZeneca vaccine was lowered from 55 to 40 this week. That decision saved Ontario from concerns some of the vaccine doses would expire before use.
The province once enjoyed a surplus of AstraZeneca vaccines. Now demand for AstraZeneca far outstrips supply, and many newly eligible residents are facing long wait times as a result.
Maseh, of course, is eager to get everyone a shot, and has some words for people who may be losing hope they will get vaccinated any time soon, considering AstraZeneca supply delays are forecasted in May.
“There’s no reason to panic: there will be more supply — people waiting for their first dose will get it in a matter of weeks, not months,” he said.
The second AstraZeneca dose should be administered 12-16 weeks after the first. Waiting that long allows the vaccine to reach full strength. That means, at the earliest, Ontarians will start to get their second AstraZeneca shots in June, skipping next month’s supply worries.
“Remember, a single dose already diminishes your chance of severe symptoms in a very robust fashion,” Maseh said.