First COVID-19 vaccines arrive at Penn Medicine | Penn Today

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After Eric Young, a nurse in the emergency department, received his COVID-19 vaccine at 6:15 on Wednesday morning, there was a noticeable pause in the Pennsylvania Hospital auditorium. Except for the photographer's camera flash, the room was silent.

This is because, in most cases, it is not particularly important to shoot two seconds of Yang's arm. He said: "It feels like other vaccines."

Then, as if collectively aware of the seriousness of the occasion, 20 onlookers in the room began to applaud. 

"Eric went to the nursing school with me!" Joanne Ruggiero, clinical director of women's health and behavioral health at Pennsylvania Hospital, shouted the vaccinated nurse. "We are research partners."

"Poor Eric!" a colleague shouted. Everyone laughed. Nervous, broken.

Although the moment passed in an instant, but for

And the hospital with a history of 264 years: Young was the first hospital to receive COVID vaccine in the health system. This marked the "beginning" of what many experts call an unprecedented health crisis, which has infected nearly a nationwide 17 million people killed 13,000 Pennsylvanians. 

It’s worth noting that this is an mRNA study conducted in Penn, which was created by

, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Katalin Karikó,

As an associate professor, he paved the way for the development of Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna COVID vaccine. 

"It is very appropriate to be the first hospital in the country to take the lead in bringing Penn State medicine to a new era of anti-COVID."

Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. "The development and sale of this vaccine will become one of the most important biomedical achievements in the world. It will be a long history in history, and it is an exciting milestone to begin deploying this vaccine to protect our own workforce."

By this weekend, the health system is expected to receive approximately 9,275 doses of Pfizer vaccine for its front-line team. The vaccines are distributed under an emergency use authorization, which is granted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide unapproved medical products during a health crisis.  

Based on recommendations from local, state, and federal agencies, Penn Medicine has established a priority order to guide how the COVID-19 vaccine is distributed within the health system. The vaccine will first be provided to front-line employees who directly deal with patients in an emergency, as well as to those who are exposed to high-risk groups of unknown COVID-19 status. After FDA approval, as the supply of vaccines increases, the health system will begin to manage more people, and eventually patients other than Penn Medicine employees.

At the Pennsylvania Hospital, Chief Human Resources Officer Christine Tierney quickly sent "on-duty calls" to administrative and other non-clinical nurses to staff the hospital's COVID-19 vaccine clinic. Within an hour, she received more than 100 responses. Among those who answered the call was Ruggerio, who woke up at 3:30 on Wednesday morning, feeling like it was Christmas morning.

She said: "I almost don't need the alarm." "I think there will be a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity here today, but so far, people have been asking to take pictures with them, and they are applauding and cheering. So excited. Up."

The vaccine arrived at Pennsylvania Hospital at 2 pm on Tuesday, and CEO Theresa Larivee and Vice President of Operations Daniel Wilson were waiting to greet the truck. The vial must be kept at a very low temperature (-112° to -76°F), but it can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 days. When they arrived in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the vials had melted, so the clock started ticking, which allowed the hospital to vaccinate exactly five days and vaccinate 510 people. 

Throughout the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, five other hospital institutions will adopt similar procedures. The first batch of vaccines arrived at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital on Wednesday morning, and the vaccines subsequently delivered were then delivered to the Penn State Presbyterian Medical Center. Chester County Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Lancaster General Hospital and University of Pennsylvania Princeton Health Hospital are also planning to accept delivery this week.

Back at the Pennsylvania Hospital on Wednesday morning, pharmacist Shadaria Shuler was also busy at work because she took out the vaccine vial from the refrigerator and started preparing for management. Each vial must be placed at room temperature for 30 minutes, then carefully inverted 10 times, diluted with a saline solution, then inverted 10 times, and then the dose is drawn into the syringe. The diluted vaccine can only last six hours at room temperature, while the undiluted vaccine will expire after two hours, so Schuler needs to schedule the time correctly.

Schuler said: "We have been prescribing medicine, so this is nothing new."

As employees began lining up to receive vaccines in the lobby of the Pennsylvania Hospital on Wednesday, the scene inside the Zubro Auditorium was vibrant but organized, because each workbench was made up of staff who understood the role of the assembly line.

Employees entered through the side of the auditorium, registered, were instructed to sign a consent form, and then walked onto the stage to accept the shooting. After that, they arranged an appointment time for the second vaccination (21 to 28 days after the first vaccination) and arranged a timer. Then, instruct them to sit in a chair and wait for 15 minutes, during which time the nurse will monitor them for any symptoms or adverse reactions to the vaccine. In the next three weeks, they will continue to receive SMS check-ins from the health system. 

"I feel great. It does less harm than the flu vaccine." said Michael Ireland, a nurse at the Crisis Response Center. 

For most nurses, doctors, and other necessary personnel who receive the vaccine on Wednesday, the message they want to convey to the public is simple: "If I did this, you should do the same."

Chris Lee was originally an internal medicine resident in Cork, Ireland. He said that he called his family that morning to tell them the good news. He hopes that getting the vaccine will encourage his family and Phillies to do the same. "I think we are ambassadors for all people to move forward. All residents are really reviewing vaccine research, looking for side effects and trying to understand the data." Lee said. "It looks safe indeed."

For Christine Preblick, the decision on the vaccine was not so clear-the doctor in the emergency department received a kidney transplant at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital two years ago and she is not sure whether the COVID-19 vaccine It is safe to use her. But earlier this week, her transplant team approved her decision. 

She believes that the risk of contracting the coronavirus is greater than the risk of vaccine side effects. She looks forward to returning to her normal life-and knows that vaccines are a key part of ensuring that the entire world can do this. She said: "For transplant patients, there must be uncertainty." "But this is a leap of faith."

The story of Lauren Ingeno. read more

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