Boston Medical Center received 1,950 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Monday morning, December 14.
These past few weeks have seen coronavirus cases in Massachusetts rise at an alarming rate. Only last Tuesday, Governor Charlie Baker announced the Commonwealth would be rolling back into Stage 1 of its thirds phase of reopening to help Massachusetts’ healthcare system cope with the number of hospitalizations. However, the arrival of the first batch of vaccines to Massachusetts gave many a glimpse of hope today.
JUST IN: Boston Medical Center Becomes First Massachusetts Hospital To Receive COVID Vaccine Shipment https://t.co/c3WRm1puvA pic.twitter.com/WpK9xypZY0
— WBZ | CBS News Boston (@wbz) December 14, 2020
Earlier on Monday morning, Boston Medical Center was the first to receive a shipment of Pfizer’s long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine. The BMC received 1,950 doses which will be first offered to employees who have frequent contact with COVID-19 patients. These include doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists, as well as workers in dietary, transport, and environmental services, which make up about 3,000 of the BMC’s 12,000 employees. Additional doses are expected to arrive at the hospital later next week according to the Boston Globe.
The first 300 people to receive the vaccine will be chosen at random, David Twitchell, chief pharmacy officer of the Boston Medical Center Health System, told the Globe. The hospital plans to start vaccinating its employees on Wednesday, December 16. The first person to be vaccinated will be the one who happens to be available during the first time slot on Wednesday morning, Twitchell said.
“This is just about the operational waves of getting this done,” Twitchell said. “If you’re day one or day five, there’s no clinical difference. It’s not because anyone is more important or less. It’s just about spacing it out operationally.”
Twitchell also added the hospital hopes to vaccinate all 6,000 people who have contact with COVID-19 patients within the next two months and continue with the rest of the employees.
Other Boston-area healthcare centers are expected to begin receiving new batches as early as Tuesday, December 15.
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