By D. Lars Dolder, Chatham News + Record Staff
At exactly 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, the somber mood that has prevailed at Chatham Hospital for most of this year was replaced with spontaneous applause and cheers.
The county’s first dosage of the coronavirus vaccine had finally been administered.
The first recipient: Dr. Jesus Ruiz, 31, a family medicine and primary care specialist who has worked on the front lines during Chatham Hospital’s months-long effort to stymie COVID-19’s lethal effects.
Dr. Jesus Ruiz recieves Chatham County’s first coronavirus vaccine from Sharon Buchanon, a nurse at Chatham Hospital.
“I think it’s a breakthrough for the community and us trying to fight this pandemic,” Ruiz said. “There have been a bunch of people in our community who have been suffering and struggling because of this disease … This is one step toward trying to get this under control.”
In total Wednesday, 25 shots were given in Chatham County on the first day of dispensation out of 50 allocated for Chatham Hospital in the first batch of Pfizer and Bio-N-Tech’s groundbreaking vaccine. All recipients were medical workers.
The vaccine’s distribution marks an historic achievement for the medical community and a country racked by the effects of global pandemic. Pfizer’s vaccine — the first authorized by the FDA to immunize against coronavirus — rolled out to distribution sites countrywide on Sunday, just five months after clinical trials began in July.
“I think it’s absolutely amazing,” said Dr. Andrew Hannapel, Chatham Hospital’s chief medical officer, and the vaccine’s third Chatham recipient. “I could spend a long time talking about the technology, the advances scientifically. This is a safe vaccine. It is extremely effective and has been tested in multiple different communities in terms of race, ethnicity, older, younger — though, not less than 16 — and it’s proven.”
The vaccine, based on a study which included 44,000 participants, prevented contraction of the disease in 95% of recipients — a remarkable efficacy rate compared to other major vaccines, experts say, but especially considering the rush for emergency authorization. The FDA had set a 50 percent efficacy threshold for vaccine makers.
“So, I feel safe in taking it,” Hannapel said, “I want to demonstrate my … not just acceptance, but understanding and trust in our FDA and the scientists who put this together. It’s truly an amazing feat that in about nine months we have a vaccine.”
But not all are so confident in the vaccine’s safety. Many remain skeptical, citing a dearth of time to evaluate vaccine side-effects in their argument against taking it.
According to an Elon University Poll release earlier this month, 60% of 1,390 North Carolinians surveyed said they would not take the vaccine or were not sure what they would do.
Nonetheless, medical experts warn that kind of thinking will only stifle the vaccine’s ability to slow, and eventually overcome, the pandemic’s spread.
“When it first started to be discussed I had probably the same apprehension that people feel, you know, that this is too new,” said Dr. Laura Hester, medical director of the emergency department at Chatham Hospital, who was fourth person to receive the vaccine on Wednesday.
“Everyone probably has some concern at the very beginning,” she said. “But as I’ve watched the process go through, I have complete confidence. I wouldn’t be taking this vaccine myself if I didn’t think it was safe. I would just reassure people — and I’ve looked at the studies myself as a medical professional — that I feel very confident that this is safe, effective, the right thing to do, and I would encourage everyone to get their vaccine as soon as it’s offered to them.”
In her capacity overseeing the emergency room, Hester has seen more of the pandemic’s consequences than most. As news of the vaccine’s development and success came out, she was nearly overcome with emotion.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve been glued to the news and counting down the days; I was one of those ones watching the trucks roll out on the news from the distribution center,” she said. “And I felt very emotional just seeing that because I feel like it’s the moment of the tide turning. I’ve seen just devastating, horrible things happening to people in our community. To see this step where like, we can change this and get back to our regular lives — and most importantly people can stop getting sick and stop dying — I’m just thrilled.”
But the vaccine does not mark an end to the coronavirus pandemic. While there is reason for celebration and optimism, medical staff say, it would be folly to resume normal activity right away.
“Even though this is available to us now, there is still great risk in every interaction that we have,” said Sharon Buchanon, the Chatham Hospital nurse who administered Wednesday’s shots. “With COVID we have seen people with severe disease and severe problems. We need to stay safe; you cannot relax that guard. Even as tiring as it is, we have to continue wearing that mask, washing your hands, staying safe and continuing those practices.”
That applies especially to those among the first throngs to receive vaccination.
“This just gives me a tiny safety margin that if, in spite of doing all these things, I do get exposed, maybe I am less likely to get sick and die myself,” Hester said. “However, I could still get it right now and still spread it to somebody and not even know it. So, absolutely, until everyone is vaccinated, we all have to keep up our same vigilance with hand-washing, wearing our masks, social distancing, all those things. We still need to keep it up, that’s really, really, important.”
Ruiz seconded his colleague’s admonition.
“This is far from being over,” he said. “This is only one step forward and we still have to adhere to CDC guidelines.”
But after nine months combating the greatest medical crisis of the last 100 years, Hannapel thinks it’s fair to breathe a sigh of relief.
“We finally have an idea of an endpoint where even two months ago we didn’t,” he said. “So, I would say to the public, just hang on. Keep doing what you’re doing — distance, wash your hands, wear a mask. The end is in sight.”
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It’s impossible to understate the relief in seeing the vaccine roll-out continue. My parents and grandparents all will have received their first dose after this week. Even though they’re still not going anywhere, there is a sense of hope. It’s also a true testament to the health care workers who got us here. I’ve taken my grandparents to Rocky Mountain Urgent Care’s Denver area facilities for prior COVID-19 testing and they really helped tremendously before the vaccine started becoming more wildly accessible.