Oregonians watched some of the state’s first COVID-19 vaccinations, administered at three different hospitals Wednesday morning, the same way most everything is experienced in 2020: through a grainy, audio-challenged Zoom-based livestream.
At 11 am, a group of frontline healthcare workers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, and Ontario’s St. Alphonsus Medical Center received the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine on camera. They included intensive care unit nurses, doctors, and hospital housekeepers. (Technically, this didn’t mark the state’s first coronavirus vaccinations—that occurred at 9 am Wednesday at St. Alphonsus, sans cameras.)
“As a Hispanic nurse, this is disproportionately affecting people of color,” said Myra Gomez, an ICU nurse at Legacy, shortly after receiving the shot. “I want to lead by example.”
“These vaccinations mean we’ll be able to stay in this job, and serve our patients as they deserve,” said Dina Ellwanger, the chief nursing officer at St. Alphonsus, who got vaccinated so she can staff the hospital’s vaccination clinic. “I feel quite blessed.”
Ellwanger said that Ontario, which is near the state’s eastern border, had been impacted by Idahoans crossing the state line and spreading COVID-19.
“We border Idaho,” she said, “whose safety measures have not been as strict.”
The first vaccinations were met with high fives, jumps, and cheers at Legacy, and an elbow bump between the administer and recipient at OHSU.
Oregon was the 49th state to begin vaccinating people this week, a delay state officials attributed to wanting to ensure the logistics of the process were sound. We’re trailed only by Tennessee.
But the state did lead the way in one aspect: Ryan Thrower became the first dentist in the United States, and possibly the world, to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Oregon passed legislation last year that allows dentists to vaccinate patients—the first law of its kind in the country.
Thrower, a dentist at OHSU, vaccinated Ansu Drammeh, who characterized his experience as an ICU nurse during the pandemic as “exhausting mentally and physically” and “absolutely a nightmare.”
“As healthcare workers, we have to be the role model for the public,” said Drammeh, adding that he particularly wanted to serve as an example for Black and Latinx people. “We’ve got to be ready to educate the community.”
Oregon hospitals hope to vaccinate at least 100,000 people—all of them frontline healthcare workers—by the end of the year. But it’s unclear how quickly and consistently more vaccines will arrive in the new year, or when other essential workers, elderly people, and the general population can expect to be vaccinated.
At 95 percent effectiveness, both the Pfizer vaccine and (soon to be approved) Moderna vaccine are considerably more effective than the flu shot, and have been found safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). About one-third of recipients will experience mild side effects, including aches and a low fever, after getting vaccinated—all signs that the vaccine is working as intended.
But Jeremy Howard, and healthcare worker at Legacy Emanuel, said he felt “no ill effects at all” shortly after getting vaccinated. He also showed off his Bugs Bunny bandaid for the camera, and said the COVID-19 vaccine was “easy, just like the flu vaccine.”
“I feel fantastic,” he added.
