Huggins Hospital Frontline Staff Receive SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine to Prevent COVID-19
It was goosebumps, cheers and many happy thumbs-ups as Huggins Hospital’s first group of employees had the opportunity to receive the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine on December 15th. Huggins Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse Nicole Keirstead, RN, CCRN, was the first employee to receive the vaccine. Keirstead is one of one of the hospital’s dedicated staff members who cares for COVID-19 patients at Huggins Hospital. The first employees vaccinated also included physicians, Emergency Department employees, Housekeeping and more.
New Hampshire’s hospitals are receiving limited doses of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to provide to their employees on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first round of vaccine delivery, Huggins Hospital received 65 doses of the vaccine – which was not enough to vaccinate all frontline staff members. Huggins Hospital anticipates more shipments to cover all their employees in the near future.
New Hampshire is working to distribute the vaccine in phases, starting with healthcare workers in the first phase. This first phase will take time, as supplies are limited. Due to these phases, there is no concrete date for general community distribution. Our local, Huggins Hospital experts are working with national and state experts to plan for vaccinating our community. Huggins Hospital will communicate details regarding community vaccination as soon as they are available.
If you would like to receive information regarding the distribution of the vaccine, you can sign up for Huggins Hospital’s communication e-mail list at www.HugginsHospital.org. Community members can sign-up by clicking “Sign Up Today” in the “COVID-19 & Vaccine Information” section of the hospital’s website homepage or by accessing the page, directly, at www.HugginsHospital.org/COVID-vaccine.