‘Finally seeing a potential hope’
Vaccinations begin at Stamford Health
STAMFORD — Stamford Health workers, among the busiest in the state during peaks of the COVID crisis, radiated hope Thursday afternoon as they administered the city’s first doses of coronavirus vaccine to fellow hospital staff.
Stamford Health — one of the largest hospital systems in the state — began vaccinating all hospital workers and medical staff after receiving vaccine doses developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech earlier in the week. While preliminary doses were administered during training sessions on Wednesday, Thursday marked the first time that all staff could sign up for appointments.
Staff watched intently as Nurse Elizabeth Wible wiped down the tricep of Dr. Frantz Hastrup, the first recipient up Thursday, and ran through the list of vaccine protocols set in place by the Centers for Disease Control to keep the process running smoothly.
“For people who work in healthcare, we’re finally seeing a potential hope,” said Hastrup, medical director of Stamford Health’s intensive care unit. “We’re stretched and tired after treating (COVID) patients for so long.”
The vaccination wing — set up to serve healthcare workers from across the city — is nestled in the hospital’s old Wheeler Building, which used to be the main hospital. After the National Guard took over the building in April to help meet demands for COVID care, a ward there dedicated to the vaccine is a welcome sight, said hospital spokesperson Andrea Jodko.
Hastrup was one of 180 Stamford Health employees scheduled to receive the vaccine on Thursday.
On a card that fit in the palm of her hand, Wible jotted down Hastrup’s date of birth and the word “Pfizer” in delicate handwriting before loading up the syringe from a vial smaller than her thumb. Nurses and other hospital staff made excited chatter during the process.
Wible, who started working with Stamford Health as part of its vaccine distribution efforts, is in charge of ensuring that recipients are safe after receiving the vaccine, which includes monitoring for any signs of allergic reactions.
Slated to join the oncology department in January, she said administering vaccines makes her feel like part of the bigger mission right now.
Hastrup was still new to Stamford Health when the pandemic began to ravage the area. The pulmonologist had arrived in Stamford less than a year before cases started to flood the hospital’s ICU. Despite the long days managing the unit’s capacity and monitoring potential spikes in the area, Hastrup said his “brothers and sisters in arms” made fighting the “war against COVID” easier.