Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Neptune to Launch a Creator-First, Customizable Algorithm Social Platform to Rival TikTok

21 hours ago

Kamala Harris Will Not Run for Governor of California in 2026

22 hours ago

Trump Pushes for Release of Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Testimony

1 day ago

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

1 day ago

Tariff Revenues Hit Record $150 Billion Amid Trump’s Trade Talks, Fox Business Reports

1 day ago

Israeli Minister Hints at Annexing Parts of Gaza

1 day ago

Fed Likely to Hold Rates Steady Despite Trump’s Push for Big Cuts

1 day ago

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

2 days ago

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

2 days ago
Community Regional Medical Centers Begin COVID-19 Vaccinations
TLBBHMAP3-U010ALB5ANM-348f959abae2-512-300x300-1
By Jim Jakobs, Digital Producer
Published 5 years ago on
December 18, 2020

Share

Community Regional Medical Centers chose 50 employees from throughout their hospital system for its first COVID-19 vaccinations Friday.

CRMC spokeswoman Mary Lisa Russell said that the vaccine’s initial deployment targeted a wide mix of hospital workers.

“They’re from all different ages and walks of life. They are going to monitor all of these 50 people over the weekend to make sure that there are no side effects,” she said.

“They’re from all different ages and walks of life. They are going to monitor all of these 50 people over the weekend to make sure that there are no side effects.”– CRMC spokeswoman Mary Lisa Russell

This is part of an effort to refrain from pulling too many of CMC’s frontline workers off the line at a time the pandemic is surging. Beginning Monday, the hospitals will start with more frontline healthcare workers by staggering the vaccines to mitigate any side effects.

As of Friday morning, 471 Community Medical Centers employees were off work either in self-isolation, or in the case of 277 of them, COVID-19 positive.

CMC First Shots

Most of the first people vaccinated said it felt just like getting a flu shot.

The first to receive the vaccine, Thomas Utecht, M.D., Senior VP, System Chief Medical Officer, said he was honored to be first in line.

“I’m excited for all the people that next week, the thousands of folks, my colleagues and co-workers at Community Medical Centers that are also going to receive this vaccine,” said Utecht.

Jim Comes, CRMC Chair of Emergency Medicine also was one of the first vaccine recipients.

“I’m quite excited about this wonderful thing that’s happened in a very terrible, horrible, no good, bad year,” said Comes. “This is a very early Christmas present for humanity.”

CRMC healthcare worker readies the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. (CRMC)

“I volunteered for the vaccine and got it today because folks we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Everybody needs to do this,” said Jim Davis, Chief of Trauma at CRMC.

Tina Gulbronsen is the Vice President of Medicine for CRMC.

“I got vaccinated because I want my kids to get their life back and I want to make sure I protect those most vulnerable around me,” he said.

Kaweah Delta Medical Center

Kaweah Delta Medical Center began vaccinating healthcare workers at the highest risk of exposure to COVID-19 on Friday morning.

Dr. Wally Huynh, an internal medicine physician who has cared for an estimated 150 COVID patients, was the first to be vaccinated. The second to get vaccinated was Johnny Mata, Jr. a respiratory therapist.

“It’s definitely an honor and a blessing to receive the vaccine because it’s going to help protect myself, my family, my coworkers, and my community,” said Huynh.

Kaweah Delta will continue administering the Pfizer vaccine to 1,950 of its 5,100 employees through Dec. 30. 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.

Kaweah Delta Medical Center begins giving COVID-19 vaccinations to healthcare workers Friday December 18th. (Kaweah Delta Medical Center)

On Friday, Kaweah Delta was caring for 145 COVID-19 patients with 17 COVID patients in its 41-bed ICU, where at 7 a.m., nine beds were available.

On Dec. 12, Kaweah Delta reached an all-time high of 150 COVID-19 patient admissions. Staffing continues to be a problem with employees on leave either from exposure or for other reasons, or because they are quarantined because they live with someone who is COVID-19 positive.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Yosemite’s Largest Campground Reopens Friday After $26.2 Million Renovation

DON'T MISS

Two Men Shot During Fight at Tulare Apartment Complex

DON'T MISS

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

DON'T MISS

US Navy Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field. Pilot ‘Safe’ After Ejecting

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Nathaniel Smith

DON'T MISS

Judges Question Whether Trump Tariffs Are Authorized by Emergency Powers

DON'T MISS

US Treasury Chief Says He Expects Fed Chair Announcement by Year’s End

DON'T MISS

Fresno Illustrator Debuts as Author With Gamer’s ‘100 First Words’ Children’s Book

DON'T MISS

The Trump Presidency Takes a Better Turn

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: New Fresno Ordinance Targets Vacant Blighted Properties

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

UP NEXT

Protein Bar Arms Race Is Waged on Store Shelves and Social Media

UP NEXT

Watch Twin Meteor Showers Reach Their Simultaneous Peak in Summer Skies

UP NEXT

Fresno’s Vacant Property Ordinance Punishes the Wrong People: Rassamni

UP NEXT

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

UP NEXT

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Immoral Behaviors In America

UP NEXT

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

UP NEXT

California May Soon Ban Selling New Glocks Like Kamala Harris Owns

UP NEXT

Trump Asks for Swift Deposition of Murdoch in Epstein Defamation Case

US Navy Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field. Pilot ‘Safe’ After Ejecting

31 minutes ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Nathaniel Smith

2 hours ago

Judges Question Whether Trump Tariffs Are Authorized by Emergency Powers

2 hours ago

US Treasury Chief Says He Expects Fed Chair Announcement by Year’s End

2 hours ago

Fresno Illustrator Debuts as Author With Gamer’s ‘100 First Words’ Children’s Book

2 hours ago

The Trump Presidency Takes a Better Turn

3 hours ago

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

3 hours ago

Wall Street Jumps as Microsoft Enters $4 Trillion Club After Results

3 hours ago

Community and Saint Agnes Named Among Best Regional Hospitals

3 hours ago

Yosemite’s Largest Campground Reopens Friday After $26.2 Million Renovation

Tuolumne Meadows Campground, Yosemite’s largest and highest-elevation campground, is set to reopen Friday, Aug. 1, according to the National...

20 minutes ago

20 minutes ago

Yosemite’s Largest Campground Reopens Friday After $26.2 Million Renovation

23 minutes ago

Two Men Shot During Fight at Tulare Apartment Complex

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump's budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2025. (Reuters File)
30 minutes ago

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

F-35C U.S. Navy fighter jets in flight
31 minutes ago

US Navy Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field. Pilot ‘Safe’ After Ejecting

President Donald Trump speaks with Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, during the "Making Health Technology Great Again" event in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 30, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
2 hours ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

Nathaniel Smith is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 31, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Nathaniel Smith

President Donald Trump speaks after signing the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 30, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
2 hours ago

Judges Question Whether Trump Tariffs Are Authorized by Emergency Powers

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attends a press conference at government quarters Rosenbad after the trade talks between the U.S. and China concluded, in Stockholm, Sweden, July 29, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Treasury Chief Says He Expects Fed Chair Announcement by Year’s End

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend