UK HealthCare begins vaccinating its front-line health care workers

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – UK HealthCare received its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine

Jonathan Labuhn, Director of Pharmacy Services gets set to unbox the vaccine as the University of Kentucky received its first shipment of Covid-19 vaccine on December 15, 2020. Photo by Mark Cornelison | UKphoto

ER nurse Hinali Patel, left, gets her vaccination from Joni Pruitt, as UK administered its first round of Covid-19 vaccine on December 15, 2020. Photo by Mark Cornelison | UKphoto

Tuesday morning and began vaccinating front-line employees in the afternoon.

Among the first to receive the vaccination were UK Chandler Emergency Department

Robert Rose, right, Associate Director of Pharmacy Supply Chain at UK HealthCare, and Jonathan Labuhn, Director of Pharmacy Services unbox the vaccine as the University of Kentucky received its first shipment of Covid-19 vaccine on December 15, 2020. Photo by Mark Cornelison | UKphoto

employees Dr. Charles Eckerline; Registered Nurse Hinali Patel; Abby Bailey, pharmacist; and Nursing Care Technicians Claire Stockwell and Jeremy Jones.

UK HealthCare received 1,950 doses of the vaccine, which were among nearly 12,000 doses available in this week’s initial rollout for Kentucky’s health care workers.

“This isn’t the end but a start to the end,” Chief Pharmacist Philip Almeter said.

Tuesday UK HealthCare was able to give the shot to 88 healthcare workers prioritizing those who work closely with COVID patients.

“It genuinely is an honor,” Jeremy Jones said.

Jones works in the emergency department and was one of the first five to get vaccinated.

“I think it’s kind of a big deal after the year that this country has been through, for me to be one of the first, it means a lot,” he said.

UK says they would have vaccinated more people Tuesday, but the vials have to be stored at 70 degrees below zero, at UK Healthcare they’re stored at sub 80, so they had to allow time to thaw.

Another drawback of its storage requirements, the doses can’t be pre-loaded into a needle too far in advance. like a flu vaccine can.

“Most flu shots we use, they’re locked and loaded, ready to administer. However, these vaccines require a considerable amount of manipulation,” Almeter said.

Still, the whole process only taking a few minutes.

No matter how long it takes, for ER nurse Hinali Patel needles still aren’t her favorite.

“I definitely was nervous. My biggest fear I think is the needle part and I’m usally passing out during the flu shot, so I definitely have to give myself a pep talk before coming in today that I can do this, and I survived it,” she said.

A pep talk she willingly gave, so hopefully nurses like her, can finally catch their breath.

“It’s physically and mentally exhausting, sometimes when I get done with a 12 hour shift I just want to sit in my car in silence,” Patel said.

Jeremy Jones echoing the same.

“To see these people struggling for life…it impacts you. And if there’s something that you can do as easy as, wear a mask, or get a vaccine, I think you should,” he said.

This comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an emergency use authorization (EUA) Dec. 11 for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, making it the first-ever approved vaccine ready to administer in the fight against COVID-19.

“After 10 months of being on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited for the good news that a vaccine is now available and that we can offer it to some of our health care workers at UK HealthCare,” said Dr. Mark Newman, UK executive vice president for health affairs. “We will be providing the first vaccinations to our front-line employees who have direct patient care primarily for COVID-19 patients or under investigation for COVID-19.  While we know that we have a long way to go in ending this pandemic, we are grateful to be part of this momentous first step.”