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HOUSTON – It is a historic day in Houston and in the fight against the corona virus.
The first hospital workers in our area finally have what they need to fight back against the coronavirus that has been killing people in our community since the beginning of this year.
Memorial Hermann COVID ICU nurse, Robert Luckey, said he has been caring for COVID-19 patients since the start of the pandemic, even as their comfort while isolated from family and all worried about his own family at home.
“We all have moms, dads, kids that we want to protect, so I think that’s the main idea,” he explained why he was lucky enough to get the first vaccination in Houston.
There is a video for every truck that arrived at loading docks in hospitals in the Houston area.
Ben Taub, UTMB in Galveston, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, LBJ Hospital, CHI-St. Luke’s and Memorial Hermann Hospital at Texas Medical Center.
“This is the next step, the most important step to get us back,” says Dr. James McCarthy, Chief Arts Executive of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.
The vaccination process was as follows:
Once the bottles came off the truck, the used bottles were thawed to room temperature in just over half an hour.
The condensed liquid was then diluted, shaken gently and divided into five doses.
The first five recipients in Houston were from Memorial Hermann’s COVID ICU, emergency departments, an infectious disease physician, and a respiratory therapist.
All doses in the freezers must be used within six months.
“We will use them much faster and we have staff ready to queue,” said Dr. Anna Maria Macaluso Davidson, Memorial Hermann AVP of Medical Operations.
According to CDC guidelines, the first level of hospital staff to receive the vaccine is those who are in direct contact with the coronavirus. Shipments of more drugs will be delivered in the coming days and will have to continue to arrive as all of these recipients will require a second dose within 21 days.
Moderna has a candidate vaccine with comparable efficacy to Pfizer. Moderna’s vaccine does not need to be stored at extremely cold temperatures, but it requires two doses.
The company has a meeting with the FDA this week.
If they get emergency use permission, there is a chance that this vaccination process will speed up for the public.
The best hope for the majority of the population to have enough immunity to return to normal will likely bring us in the spring or summer, according to Dr. McCarthy.
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