Kaweah Delta receives COVID vaccine, finalizes plans to give to healthcare workers
Kaweah Delta receives COVID vaccine, finalizes plans to give to healthcare workers
VISALIA, CA – Today, Kaweah Delta Medical Center received its first
shipment of the coronavirus vaccine and finalized preparations to begin
giving the vaccine to healthcare workers at highest risk of exposure to COVID-19.
“The vaccine is our dawn. It’s the warm sun finally rising
over the horizon and giving us hope,” said Gary Herbst, Chief Executive
Officer of Kaweah Delta. “I wish we had had it a month ago, that
would have been ideal, but frankly, I’ll take what I can get. We’re
looking forward to that immunity. I just wish it was in larger quantities,
sooner, so we could begin inoculating a much larger percentage of our
population and really start developing that widespread immunity.”
Kaweah Delta will begin administering the first dose of the two-dose Pfizer
vaccine to 1,950 of its 5,100 employees on Friday, Dec. 18. Vaccinations
will continue throughout the weekend, finishing up on Tuesday. Twenty-one
days later, the second dose will be given to those who have received the
vaccine. Kaweah Delta expects shipment of more vaccine next week, possibly
the Moderna vaccine, which is pending FDA approval at this time.
On Wednesday, Kaweah Delta was caring for 141 COVID-19 patients at its
Medical Center, with 14 COVID patients in its 41-bed ICU where as of 7
a.m., 10 beds were available. On Dec. 12, Kaweah Delta reached an all-time
high of 150 COVID-19 patient admissions. Staffing hospital beds continues
to be a problem with the number of staff members on leave of absence either
from exposure or other reasons, or because they are quarantined because
they live with someone who is positive for COVID-19.
“We’re two and a half weeks out from Thanksgiving and it’s
usually 2-3 weeks post-holiday that we start seeing the hospitalizations,
so maybe we’re peaking now. We might have a couple week lull between
now and Christmas, but then we greatly fear an even more powerful resurgence
that hits 2-3 weeks after Christmas,” Herbst said. “Unfortunately,
we say it’s the darkest before the dawn. The vaccine is our dawn,
but we’re going to have to go through a period of darkness before
we get to that dawn.”
Kaweah Delta shares COVID-19 information and regular updates, including
parking and construction news, with the community on its website at
www.kaweahdelta.org/COVID19 and on its social media accounts. #