SPOKANE, Wash. — Health care facilities in Spokane and North Idaho are beginning to administer COVID-19 vaccines to staff members.
A transplant physician with Providence Health Care received the first coronavirus vaccine administered in Spokane County on Friday morning. Hundreds of staff members are also receiving the vaccine at Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene.
Providence Executive Vice President and Regional Chief Executive Elaine Couture administered the vaccine to Dr. Okechukwu Ojogho, who spent his night shift performing a kidney and pancreas transplant beforehand.
“As a physician and as a person of color, I’m very, very well aware of how this virus has devastated our community. This vaccine is really the ray of hope that’s going to lift our spirits and help us defeat this virus," Dr. Ojogho said before getting the shot, adding that he encourages everyone to get vaccinated.
Kootenai Health said in a Facebook post that its first five caregivers to receive the vaccine on Friday included two critical care physicians, a hospitalist physician, a respiratory therapist and a critical care nurse, all of whom are caring for coronavirus patients. The hospital received its first shipment of Pfizer's vaccine on Thursday morning.
Nearly 600 employees of Kootenai Health have received the vaccine as of Monday, according to the hospital.
"This is the first opportunity in the last nine months that we start to see a little bit of potential relief and we start to see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel," said Dr. Todd Hoopman, who received the vaccine at Kootenai Health.
PHOTOS: Kootenai Health staff receive COVID-19 vaccine
Gritman Medical Center also began vaccinations Friday afternoon.
Registered Nurse Nina Benichou was the first employee at Gritman to receive the vaccine. She is a nurse in the critical care unit and also works as a medical surgical nurse.
"I'm very grateful to receive the first vaccine and I'd say it's such a privilege and an honor to serve at the bedside and continue to provide great care for our community. So, thank you," Benichou said after getting the vaccine.
Over the next few days, 349 doses of the vaccine will be given to Gritman employees. They'll even get stickers that say, "I got my COVID-19 Vaccine."
Before this dose of the vaccine got to Benichou, it was stored in special units. The vaccine has to stay frozen between negative 60 and 80 degrees Celsius.
In fact, the medical center did not have equipment that could monitor temperatures that low. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories provided Gritman a device that can.
In its frozen state, the vaccine can last about six months. Once it gets moved into the container, the clock starts ticking. From there, the vaccine must be administered within about five days.
PHOTOS: Gritman Medical Center begins COVID-19 vaccinations
On Wednesday, the Spokane Regional Health District said 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be in Spokane County during the first week of availability. Beth Hegde, a spokesperson for Providence Health Care, said on the same day that the company had received just under 4,000 doses of the vaccine.
Providence is the only health care company in Spokane County to receive a shipment of the vaccine so far. MultiCare confirmed on Wednesday that they'll receive a shipment next week, but a spokesperson was unable to provide specifics about time or dosage numbers.
High-risk health care workers, including those in the emergency department, ICU, respiratory therapy, and hospitals, are receiving the first round of vaccines in Spokane County and throughout Washington state. Staff and residents of long-term care facilities are also included in the first round.
The doses received by Providence so far are not enough to cover all high-risk health care workers, Hegde said.
Kootenai Health received around 1,370 vaccines in its first shipment from the Panhandle Health District and expects to receive more in the last two weeks of 2020. The hospital's goal is to administer the first dose to all frontline staff who would like it by the end of the year.
Health care workers are also receiving the initial doses of the vaccine in Idaho, according to a plan outlined by the state. More specifically, the initial shipment in Idaho is destined for hospital and outpatient clinic staff who care for COVID-19 patients.
KREM staff members contributed to this report.
