Forty healthcare professionals at Santa Rosa Medical Center received the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine after the hospital accepted its first shipment Monday.
It’s been a long nine months for 91-year-old Eileen Costello.
Quarantined since March at her Gulf Breeze nursing home, Bay Breeze Senior Living and Rehabilitation Center, Costello hasn’t been able to socialize with her friends or see her family since the start of the pandemic.
But on a sunny Tuesday morning with a small shot to the arm, Costello got her first taste of relief and safety in a long time.
“This means that I won’t get sick and die,” Costello said with a smile. “I’m feeling good. I don’t know. I’m a silly old lady.”
Pensacola News Journal
Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine Monday and started vaccinating frontline medical staff almost immediately.
Cardiologist Dr. Mark Grise was the first of about 30 people at the hospital to get the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which he called a medical miracle. This is really the first step in fighting this modern-day plague, Grise said. This vaccine, if you look at the data, it s not just a home run, it s a grand slam. It s incredibly effective. It appears to be safe, and this is the way that we eradicate this disease and get on with our lives and stop having people die of this terrible disease.
Jennie McKeon/WUWF Public Media
Christmas came early at Bay Breeze Senior Living and Rehabilitation Center in Gulf Breeze as residents and staff got the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning.
Joe Rich, pharmacist at the Gulf Breeze CVS just down the road, administered the vaccine to a staff member and resident outside the facility the first doses in Gulf Breeze. After each shot, staff cheered.
“I didn’t feel a thing,” said 91-year-old Eileen Costello.
Costello said she’s been watching CNN and following the news around the vaccine. She had no reservations about getting it.
“I’m not afraid,” she said before getting the shot. “If I do (get side effects) it’s better than really getting sick and die.”
Amid COVID-19, can you get the care you need for other emergencies at the ER?
The question was raised after the death of radio DJ Chris Jarman. Memphis critical care doctors said Jarman was monitored while awaiting a hospital transfer. Author: Jeni Diprizio Updated: 7:08 PM EST December 18, 2020
MEMPHIS, Tenn. If you have an emergency will you be able to get help at the hospital? It s a question many are asking after hearing radio D.J. Chris Jarman had to be sent more than 100 miles away for an intensive care unit.
Baptist Healthcare Officials confirmed there were no intensive care beds available in the Memphis area at the moment Jarman needed one.