GREENFIELD — Although Rob Miller’s mouth was covered by his mask, his eyes hinted he was smiling after being the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Hancock County.
Following his shot, he confirmed he indeed was grinning beneath his personal protective equipment, but not necessarily because of his place in line.
“Whether I was the first one or the last one, it’s great to have this,” said Miller, director of respiratory therapy at Hancock Regional Hospital. “This is a game-changer.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryMiller was one of about 200 front-line health care workers to receive the first vaccinations against the novel coronavirus at the hospital on Friday, Dec. 18. Like him, those involved described the day as a momentous occasion that would start putting an end to a pandemic that’s sickened and killed so many.
With COVID-19 being a respiratory illness, Miller and his staff are very familiar with how it impacts people who contract the virus.
“We see the effects of this daily” in young and old patients, he said.
Serving on the front lines of the pandemic has been draining, said Miller, who also lost a good friend who was the best man at his wedding, to COVID-19.
“There’s the physical exhaustion, but it’s more mental, because every day you’re hoping that you have good outcomes with all your patients and everyone you work with,” he said.
Hancock County added another COVID-19 death Friday, raising its total to 76. Another 80 cases brought that amount to 4,407.
During the 15-minute observation period following his shot, Miller said he felt fine.
“It didn’t feel any different from any other shot or vaccination you may get,” he said shortly before scheduling his second dose of the vaccine in 21 days.
Monica Horsley, a New Palestine resident and nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in downtown Indianapolis, was also among the first to get vaccinated in Greenfield Friday.
“I feel so blessed,” she said through tears. “I think this is amazing. It’s incredible.”
The pandemic has been particularly challenging for the VA hospital because it serves a patient population with a lot of chronic illnesses, Horsley said.
“It’s been very difficult to try to coordinate care for them to try to get them in for these appointments that they need, and trying to limit them coming in, so we can limit exposure, so we can try to take care of them and meet their needs,” she said.
Many don’t want to come in for appointments because they worry about being exposed to the contagious virus, Horsley said. That’s part of her motivation for getting the vaccine, she continued, adding if she were to get the virus, she feels it would be severe.
“And it’s not worth putting me in that position; it’s not worth putting my family in that position; and more importantly it’s not worth putting my patients in that position,” Horsley said.
Sam Bullman, a certified clinical medical assistant for American Health Network in Greenfield and an emergency medical technician, received a COVID-19 vaccination Friday as well. Her experience with the virus has been personal as well as professional, as she contracted it in June and had a stroke because of it.
Bullman and her coworkers at American Health Network have been seeing COVID-19 patients throughout the pandemic.
“It’s hard,” she said through tears. “Working in a doctor’s office, you see your patients a lot more. And when they come to us, they’re sick. But these are your patients that you’ve grown to know over a long period of time, and you just want to help them, because they’re like family, and it’s just hard.”
Dr. Anita Bhagat of Marathon Health in Indianapolis was vaccinated at Hancock Regional Hospital Friday too. Her employer serves municipal employees and their families in Indianapolis and the surrounding area.
Bhagat said she was excited to not only get the vaccine, but also about what it represents.
“I feel like there’s a beginning to an end, and a light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m really proud to be part of it and getting this opportunity to get the vaccine, and serve as a role model for my patients, and just kind of advocate for public health awareness,” she said.
Working in health care throughout the pandemic has been arduous, Bhagat said.
“It’s been at times quite daunting, filled with lots of uncertainty, sometimes even fear that we really don’t want to relay to our patients, as our job is to keep everybody calm,” she said. “However, we’ve learned a lot, and I think with research, and guidelines and such, day by day, we feel at this point a greater understanding of this virus, how to contain it, and now, how to prevent it.”
Enough of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for Friday’s shots thawed overnight in a refrigerator in Hancock Regional Hospital’s pharmacy. At around 7 a.m., Greg Briggs, a pharmacist at the hospital, removed about half of the vials to start preparing doses. Each vial contains at least five doses, and can have up to seven. Briggs and his colleagues spent much of their morning combining saline solution with the vaccine and drawing doses into syringes.
Briggs said he’s proud to serve in the fight to end the COVID-19 pandemic and is glad vaccines are making their way around the world.
“It’s just an exciting time in light of the challenges and frustrations that we’ve all felt from this all year,” he said. “I feel a lot of optimism that this is going to be the first step in turning the corner to start getting our way of life back to normal. I’m fired up.”
Donna Wilson, a retired nurse, joined Hancock Regional Hospital as a temporary employee to administer COVID-19 vaccinations Friday.
“I’m an ICU nurse, so I kind of felt guilty over the fact that I hadn’t been in the trenches,” she said.
But she didn’t want to risk getting the virus and giving it to her husband, she continued.
“This was something I felt I could do to help in this situation and use my license in a good way, but without increasing his risk, because everyone’s so screened and everything,” Wilson said. “I thought this was a safe way to help out.”
The vaccine represents a significant step toward ending the pandemic, she continued.
“I just feel like it’s what the world needs right now to stop this,” she said. “We’ve got to get something going that’s going to break this cycle.”
About an hour into the vaccinations, Jason Wells, professional and organizational development coordinator for Hancock Regional Hospital, said the process was moving along smoothly and that there weren’t any problems with any recipients.
Brooke Summers, a registered nurse administering vaccinations, agreed.
“It’s been going really well,” she said between patients. “It was just getting the computers going. Once you figure that out, then the shot part’s the easy part.”
When Steve Long, president and CEO of Hancock Regional Hospital, visited the vaccine clinic in a lower-level classroom on Friday, he said it felt surreal to think that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
“It truly is a historic day,” he said. “This is going to be one of those days in our lives that we look back at and say, ‘I was there for that.’”
Hancock Regional Hospital will continue its COVID-19 vaccine clinic for front-line health care workers on Monday. Those receiving the vaccine sign up through a link to a website sent to them.
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COVID-19 data through early Friday, Dec. 18
Hancock County
- 806 new tests administered (Nov. 23-Dec. 17)
- 80 new cases (Dec. 17)
- 13.2% seven-day (Dec. 5-11) positivity rate all tests, 7.4% cumulative rate
- 1 new death (Dec. 14)
- 57,363 total tests administered
- 31,236 individuals tested
- 4,407 total cases
- 22.9% seven-day (Dec. 5-11) positivity rate unique individuals, 14.1% cumulative rate
- 76 total deaths
Indiana
- 54,507 new tests administered (Aug. 25-Dec. 17), 15,556 new individuals tested
- 6,088 new cases (Nov. 23-Dec. 17)
- 12.4% seven-day (Dec. 5-11) positivity rate all tests, 8% cumulative rate
- 84 new deaths (Nov. 21-Dec. 17)
- 5,157,016 total tests administered
- 2,492,370 total individuals tested
- 453,139 total cases
- 24.4% seven-day (Dec. 5-11) positivity rate unique individuals, 18.2% cumulative rate
- 6,944 total deaths
- 321 total probable deaths
- 48% ICU beds in use – non-COVID
- 31.5% ICU beds in use – COVID
- 20.6% ICU beds available
- 15.6% ventilators in use – non-COVID
- 13.2% ventilators in use – COVID
- 71.2% ventilators available
- Hospital census: 3,065 total COVID-19 patients (2,685 confirmed, 380 under investigation)
Source: Indiana State Department of Health
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