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A local doctor called the vaccine a stab at the back of the coronavirus.
A hospital president said Thursday was an important date in the history of the community, representing a ray of hope at the end of a very long tunnel.
Bakersfield hospitals administered the first doses of the newly arrived coronavirus vaccine to several executives, doctors and hospital staff as frontline hospital workers cheered and cheered on Thursday.
“We should go – all of us,” said Dr Arash Heidari, director of the Infectious Disease Fellowship at Kern Medical, and possibly the first person in Bakersfield to be immunized with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. .
“The more people who are vaccinated,” Heidari said, “the sooner the pandemic will end.”
The vaccine Heidari received was administered at Kern Medical by senior hospital pharmacist Jeff Jolliff, who called Heidari a “true hero” for the work he has been doing since the pandemic outbreak.
It only took a few seconds to inject the vaccine, and as he finished, Jolliff said, “You are vaccinated.
After nine months of enduring the pandemic and the lockdowns, restrictions, fears and losses, the arrival of the vaccine has been recorded as historic for many, especially the medical professionals who have seen it up close, who have observed patients and even their colleagues come down highly contagious and sometimes fatal disease.
Later that afternoon, Mercy’s President and CEO, Bruce Peters, became the first in Mercy to receive the vaccination from RN Kim Walker.
Peters said he went first because he didn’t want to ask the hospital staff to do something he didn’t want to do. And he wants the community to know it’s safe.
The vaccine is given in two doses, three weeks apart, so Peters and everyone else who gets vaccinated must come back for a second injection.
“The benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks,” said Peters.
Commonly reported side effects include pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, pain, according to the FDA, which cleared the vaccine for people 16 years of age and older. joints and fever.
“Even after receiving the vaccine, it’s important to remain masked,” said Peters, who added he will continue to adhere to the guidelines.
“The vaccine was found to be 94% effective,” he said. “This means that for 6 out of 100 people, it won’t be effective.”
“It is important to continue to follow the guidelines,” he said.
Dr Brij Bhambi, medical director of Bakersfield Heart Hospital, became the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at that hospital on Thursday.
And intensive care nurse Lucy Valdovinos-Barrison was the first nurse in the hospital to receive the vaccine.
But Bakersfield Heart Hospital went much further on Thursday, vaccinating 75 doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists who may be exposed to patients or infectious material.
There was also a sense of relief at Adventist Health Bakersfield after the downtown hospital received its first vaccine delivery. Dr Ronald Reynoso, market physician for Adventist Health Bakersfield and Tehachapi Valley, said the vaccine represents hope around the world.
“We are delighted with the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine – it gives that hope that everyone in Kern County and around the world wanted,” Reynoso said in a statement. “We are honored that our caregivers are among the first to receive the vaccine as we protect our frontline staff and continue to care for our patients.
“We look forward to the vaccine being administered more widely in the community as well,” he said.
Scott Thygerson, president of Kern Medical hospital and clinic operations, said East Bakersfield Hospital has provided medical care to residents of Kern for 150 years. And Thursday was one of those dates that will be remembered as historic.
Thygerson said, “This is one of those memorable days in our community.”
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