Riverside County healthcare workers receive COVID vaccine
It's another big day for Riverside County with more coronavirus vaccines being distributed nationwide and here at home.
Early Friday morning, the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered to a housekeeping staff member, doctors and additional staff at Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley.
As of 9:30 a.m. there were about 35 vaccines given and healthcare workers told News Channel 3 they planned on administering about 60-70 more doses throughout the day.
Friday's vaccine distribution is part of the first phase of administering the vaccine, which is designated for healthcare employees that work alongside the sickest patients.
"We received a total of 1,900 vaccine doses, which will help us cover those in our highest risk category groups," said Dr. Nikita Patel, Assistant Director of Pharmacy for RUHS Medical Center.
Dr. Patel added that they expected to administer an additional 165 vaccines through the weekend.
Healthcare workers joined county officials to announce the big day, but also gave an update on staggering coronavirus numbers that continue to impact the local healthcare system.
"This is the day we’ve been waiting for- the arrival of the vaccine to begin to provide immunizations to our healthcare workers," said Riverside County Board Chairman, V. Manuel Perez.
"With the arrival of the first shipment of the COVID vaccine today, marks the beginning of a new chapter for our county. Importantly, the vaccine offers a practical pathway out of the pandemic. However, it is likely that things will get worse before they get better. As of yesterday we had more than 132,000 cumulative COVID cases in Riverside County meaning that more than 1 in 20 people in our county have been diagnosed with COVID during the past year," said Dr. Geoffrey Leung with RUHS.
Many spoke about their experience after receiving the vaccine.
"I don’t have any soreness or tenderness in my arm. I feel perfectly fine, said RUHS housekeeper, Alexa Lara.
When Lara was asked whether she felt hesitant about the vaccine, she said she had 'mixed feelings.'
"This is all new to us, but once you get explained how the vaccine works, you understand and you get comfortable," said Lara.
Riverside University Health System Medical Center Pulmonary and Critical Care physician, Dr. Nikki Mittal said these past few weeks have been extremely hard, especially with the rising death toll. At first, she also was skeptical of the vaccine. She said she gained more confidence after seeing how many people were tested and the outcomes of the clinical trials. Dr. Mittal was the first at RUHS to get the vaccine.
"Its just been so hard. I've cried, I go home a lot of days and I cry and this week I've been doing clinic from home and I got the text yesterday, 'Do you want to sign up?' And I signed up and as soon as I even got the appointment to know that I'm getting it, I felt like 30 pounds lifted off my shoulders," Dr. Mittal said.
Those that received the Pfizer vaccine were monitored between 15 minutes and an hour, depending on a person's history of allergic reactions to prior vaccines. They will also need to wait 21 days before their second and final dose.
Watch below: County's full news conference on the vaccine
COVID-19 Vaccine News Conference 121820 from RUHS Public Health on Vimeo.
The first shipment from Pfizer arrived at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs Thursday morning. Five medical professionals received the vaccine, become the first in the valley to do so.
The county expects to receive a total of 14,000 to 15,000 doses of the vaccine in this first shipments .Our local hospitals (Desert Regional, JFK, and Eisenhower) will receive a total of 3,085 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Riverside County is expected to receive over 25,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine over the next two weeks.
The next phases of distribution will prioritize critical or vulnerable populations as well as the general population.
Officials have expressed hope that the vaccine will help ease the strain on hospitals and healthcare workers amid a surge in cases and hospitalizations over the past month.
COVID-related hospitalizations in Riverside County have continually increased since Nov. 5.
On Nov. 5, Riverside County had 201 hospitalizations. By Dec. 7, hospitalizations had gone up to 700. A week later, the county passed 900 patients. As of Dec. 17, there are 1,054 patients in Riverside County hospital
The county reached 0% ICU bed availability on Monday. Local hospitals have begun to implement their surge plans, which involved converting rooms to make space for more patients.
Stay up-to-date with the latest local coronavirus news, including reopenings and closing, new case data, live news conferences, and other updates at KESQ.com/Coronavirus or download the News Channel 3 app on the Apple Store and Google Play.
