BOSTON (WHDH) – Frontline workers at Tufts Medical Center are among the first people in Boston to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Tufts and other area hospitals received their first shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine Tuesday morning and by the afternoon, the shots were going in the arms of those who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients.
Epidemiologist Gabriela Andujar Vasquez is the first healthcare worker @TuftsMedicalCtr to get the vaccine. She says this signifies “the beginning of the end” of this #pandemic #7news pic.twitter.com/NFaiZ9hsHp
— Kimberly Bookman (@KimberlyBookman) December 15, 2020
Epidemiologist Gabriela Andujar Vasquez was the first of 10 healthcare workers at Tufts to receive the vaccine.
“I wanted to get the vaccine and also advocate for everyone out there that it is safe,” she said.
Andujar Vasquez will receive her second dose in three weeks. She hopes the immunity that follows will allow her to see her family once again.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my nephews and nieces who are back in Puerto Rico that I haven’t been able to see in a long time,” she said.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital also got their first shipment of the vaccine.
Across the Commonwealth, a handful of employees at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital and Lawrence General rolled up their sleeves to get the shot.
Boston Medical Center was the first hospital in the city to receive their shipment Monday.
Nearly 2,000 doses were placed into a locked freezer to prepare for their first wave of vaccinations scheduled for Wednesday.
BMC’s vaccinations will go to doctors and nurses working in the intensive care unit, emergency department, and floors that treat COVID-19 patients, along with employees from environmental and support services that work in COVID-positive patient areas, a spokesperson said.
Katie Murphy, the president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, believes the majority of those workers will opt for the shot.
“We are encouraging our members to take the vaccine,” she said.
Murphy added that healthcare workers are cautiously optimistic that this vaccine can make a difference.
“We’ve all been so devastated, that I see a little bit more interest in taking it in spite of those concerns,” she continued.
Margaret Klessens, a World War II veteran, became the first VA patient in the country to get the vaccine.
She was vaccinated by the VA Bedford Healthcare System.
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