Columbus, Ohio — Following Friday’s FDA approval for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, OhioHealth received its first doses of the vaccine on Tuesday, December 15. Nearly 2,000 doses were delivered to the prepositioning sites within the OhioHealth care sites. Berger received their first does of the vaccine on Wednesday, December 23, and began administering to frontline
associates throughout the day on the 23rd.
“As infectious disease experts, we have known that for the tide to turn in this tremendous battle with a very deadly disease we needed a vaccine, and now we are starting the next phase in saving lives,” Dr. Joseph Gastaldo, OhioHealth medical director of infectious diseases said. “This is the
most critical moment we have been waiting months for. We believe after going through the rigor of testing and trials, just at an accelerated pace, this vaccine is safe.”
The vaccine will be administered first to front line teams in hospitals, beginning with the highest risk group first, which includes those with direct patient contact within the hospital setting. The next phase will be vaccinations for those with moderate risk including OhioHealth Physician
Group associates, rehabilitation, imaging. Phase three will be to vaccinate all OhioHealth associates and staff. All phases will be dependent on vaccine supply.
The vaccine will continue to be rolled out at other OhioHealth regional care sites, in the same order phase schedule, based on supply.
“At Berger, we are very excited about this next step in the battle against the deadly COVID-19 diseases,” Tim Colburn, president OhioHealth Berger Hospital said. “We have worked together at OhioHealth to get the vaccine, to plan for our staff to get vaccinated, and to continue to care for our patients at the very highest levels. Our staff has answered the call, they have worked tirelessly to save lives, and now this vaccine is for them, to keep them healthy as the battle against COVID-19 continues.”
OhioHealth invested in additional, ultra-low temperature storage freezers to store potentially hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses.
“We couldn’t be more excited for this day,” Dr. Gastaldo said. “This is light at the end of a months long tunnel. And while this isn’t the end, we are hopeful that it can be the beginning of the end, with the hope of vaccinations for the American public at large throughout 2021.”
