Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Community Regional Medical Centers Begin COVID-19 Vaccinations
TLBBHMAP3-U010ALB5ANM-348f959abae2-512-300x300-1
By Jim Jakobs, Digital Producer
Published 4 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

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

DON'T MISS

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts Ahead of Election Day, While Oil Rises and Yields Sink

DON'T MISS

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

DON'T MISS

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

DON'T MISS

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

DON'T MISS

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

DON'T MISS

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

DON'T MISS

What One Tossup District Says About the Trump-Harris Battle for the Suburbs

DON'T MISS

Herbert Shines, Chargers Defense Dominates in Win Over Browns

UP NEXT

Visalia Rollerblader Suffered Major Injuries After Being Struck by Vehicle

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Indicted for Possessing Stolen Guns

UP NEXT

Fresno County to Open New West Annex Jail, Replacing Aging Facility

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Reform Is a Must. Force It With a ‘No’ on Measure H.

UP NEXT

Fresno County DUI Rate Is an ‘Epidemic,’ DA Says

UP NEXT

Ag Recession? Years of Plenty May Be Over, but Reality Isn’t as Bleak as Painted

UP NEXT

On Elon Musk’s X, Dems Are an Endangered Species While GOP Goes Viral

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: Propositions on the November Ballot

UP NEXT

New Vehicles, Face Paint and a 1,200-Foot Fall: The US Army Prepares for War With China

UP NEXT

CNN Bars Pro-Trump Guest After His ‘Beeper’ Remark to Mehdi Hasan

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

10 mins ago

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

13 mins ago

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

18 mins ago

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

44 mins ago

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

48 mins ago

What One Tossup District Says About the Trump-Harris Battle for the Suburbs

58 mins ago

Herbert Shines, Chargers Defense Dominates in Win Over Browns

1 hour ago

US Confirms Reports That Iran Arrested an Iranian-American Citizen

1 hour ago

A Vivid Trump-Harris Contrast in Campaign’s Grueling Final Days

1 hour ago

Harris and Trump Battle to the Wire in Swing States, Times/Siena Polls Find

1 hour ago

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

Nearly $100 million has been spent this year by corporate- and labor-funded committees in California legislative races, including more than ...

3 mins ago

3 mins ago

Big Spenders: These Companies Are Giving the Most to California Legislative Candidates

3 mins ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Drifts Ahead of Election Day, While Oil Rises and Yields Sink

6 mins ago

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

Raiders
10 mins ago

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

13 mins ago

Storm in the Caribbean Is on a Track to Likely Hit Cuba as a Hurricane

18 mins ago

Israel Ends Agreement With UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

Rams
44 mins ago

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

48 mins ago

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

Search

Send this to a friend