First Black Hawk County Healthcare Worker Vaccinated with COVID-19

Waterloo, Iowa (KWWL) — For 11 months, doctors and nurses at Black Hawk County hospitals could only treat coronavirus. Now they can shift gears to prevent it.

On Thursday, doctors and nurses who had fought the pandemic at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic in Waterloo finally got their weapons in hopes of ending the war.

Both UnityPoint Allen Hospital and Mercy One Waterloo Medical Center have received the first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Shortly after 12:30 pm on Thursday, Dr. Russell Adams, Chief Medical Officer at Allen Hospital, became the first non-clinical coronavirus vaccinated person in Black Hawk County.

“I thought it was important to give an example to others,” said Dr. Adams. “This vaccine is safe and effective for us. This is our way to overcome this pandemic.”

Respiratory therapist Janel Clark was first vaccinated at the Mercy One Waterloo Medical Center.

Relation: Cedar Rapids hospital vaccinated employees with the first COVID-19 vaccine

For frontline people, it can’t come fast enough. Tom Graham, Respiratory Therapy Manager at Unity Point Allen Hospital, said he has peace of mind because he has diabetes and is at risk of developing more serious cases of the virus.

“They take great care to make sure we have enough supplies, but still behind your heart, you think about when I’ll get off,” he said. Told. Even if you are wearing PPE, you are taking care of these patients and seeing young people who have not recovered by getting this. “

For the emergency department manager Rachel Lindaman, the most difficult part of the past few months has been trying to help patients cope with leaving their families. Hospitals have restricted visitors since the pandemic began.

“I’m excited that people don’t have to experience what every patient thinks they’re experiencing, whether they can’t see their family or are actually ill,” she said. It was. “I think this is a way to go back to what you saw before.”

The first round of vaccination will be given to staff at the highest risk of COVID-19 exposure.

The hospital currently has 900 doses of Pfizer vaccine. In the next few days, the pharmacy director said Thursday he wanted the hospital to vaccinate up to 120 employees daily.

Dr. Adams said he was told that it wasn’t until January, although he didn’t know exactly when the hospital would receive the next shipment of Pfizer vaccine. That is when he wants to move to another hospital staff who is not directly involved in the treatment of COVID patients.

Prior to that, they were able to get the Moderna vaccine. The vaccine received a green light from the FDA Advisory Board on Thursday afternoon.

“I would like to go to Tier 2 if possible, but I’m not sure if I can do that,” he said. “Surprisingly, there are many staff members who have registered for the vaccine.”

He said 80-90% of the staff would be happy to take the vaccine.

Relation: UIHCER nurse first vaccinated with COVID-19 in eastern Iowa

The COVID-19 vaccine is currently not generally available. Dr. Adams said he hopes to be either late spring or early summer.

“It all depends on the number of companies that can manufacture and distribute the vaccine,” he said. “Remember that this is now a global issue.”

UnityPoint Health strongly recommends that staff receive the COVID-19 vaccine, but it is not required.

Several front-line workers vaccinated on Thursday recommended that everyone be vaccinated once the public was available. Dr. Joseph Kwoffy, an emergency department doctor, said he was confident that it would bring us back to normal.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel when there is a vaccine that has proven effective,” he said. “We feel that if almost everyone is not vaccinated, we can put an end to this pandemic in six months.”

According to UnityPoint, all adults who choose to be vaccinated will be required to be vaccinated in late 2021. Infants may not be vaccinated until further studies are completed.