COVID-19 vaccination campaign begins with Vermont hospitals
December 16, 2020 GMT
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Vermont’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign is beginning with the inoculations of medical professionals across the state before expanding to residents of long-term care facilities, and then the general population.
The first dose of the vaccine was administered Tuesday to a nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. Later Tuesday, five nurses were vaccinated at the Rutland Regional Medical Center.
On Wednesday, vaccinations are scheduled to begin at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington.
Vaccinations will begin soon at the state’s nursing homes. Front-line medical workers get first priority for the vaccines, followed by nursing home residents.
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BENNINGTON â Southwestern Vermont Medical Center was expecting its first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to arrive on Tuesday, and plans to give the first doses to doctors and nurses who work directly with COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, the hospital announced.
The announcement came as an emergency department nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington became the first person in the state to receive a vaccine against COVID-19.
âWe have been planning and preparing for the vaccinesâ arrival for many weeks, including purchasing an ultralow freezer to properly store the vaccine. We are ready to participate in Vermontâs phased plan to vaccinate our healthcare workforce and our region,â the hospitalâs president and CEO, Thomas Dee, and chief medical officer, Dr. Trey Dobson, said in a joint statement issued late Tuesday afternoon.
Nurse Patricia Johnson receives the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. BENNINGTON, Vt. After getting her first round of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday morning, Dr. Anne Marie Swann got a Band-Aid, a sticker, a round of applause and a place in local history. The hospitalist from Williamstown, Mass., was the first member of the staff at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as the region officially began the next stage of society s battle against the global pandemic. Having this as a protective layer is encouraging and exciting for us because the more people who get vaccinated, the closer we get to that herd immunity, Swann said. We ll still see this for a long time, but I think we ll hopefully see less of it.
COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer. Courtesy photo
by Jeff Tieman, VAHHS President and CEO A post-pandemic world is closer than it was even a week ago. Several highly effective COVID-19 vaccines are on their way – the first, from Pfizer, is slated to arrive in Vermont in a day or so. Initial doses will be administered by hospitals and pharmacies as part of federal and state plans that prioritize front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.
This week’s VAHHS Update provides more details about vaccine distribution, effectiveness and possible side effects. Our goal is to share new information as rapidly as possible to help health care workers – and Vermonters in general – stay informed and confident about getting the vaccine as soon as it’s available to them. Of course, such information changes quickly.
The main reason the idea did not garner much interest among the board members is that between the time it posted the Wednesday morning meeting and the time it actually met, the commonwealth announced that its Stop the Spread testing program is expanding to three sites in Berkshire County, including North Adams. Like everything else going on with COVID these days, events have moved beyond this, Williamstown Health Inspector Jeff Kennedy told the board. Since this meeting was scheduled, Berkshire Health System and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center both stepped up a lot of their testing. I m not sure if this is applicable to the Board of Health anymore.