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Both of southeastern Connecticut’s hospitals admitted their first COVID-19 patient on March 18, 2020 an event their doctors, nurses and staffs knew was inevitable.
They didn t know much else about the coronavirus disease, which is not to say they were unprepared.
“One of the big challenges was our lack of knowledge about the virus and how it behaved,” Dr. Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, said Friday, reflecting on the statewide response to COVID-19. “We were learning about the disease as the pandemic played out. Guidance was evolving in real time.”
At the outset, she said, there were no therapeutics, no vaccines. A lot of cases had to be managed before widespread testing was available. Personal protective equipment, or PPE, was in short supply.
The vaccinations, broadcast via Zoom, were administered shortly after 8:30 a.m.
“This represents a day of hope in our fight against this pandemic that has ravaged our community and our country the last nine to 10 months,” Patrick Green, L+M’s president and chief executive officer, said at the start of the event.
He said vaccines are “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Kate Graves, an advanced practice registered nurse, received the first injection, followed by Donna Whitehouse, a patient care assistant, and Dawn Kirk, who works in the food and nutrition department.
Graves said she and a friend who is a co-worker have been working on a COVID-19 unit since the pandemic began.