CAMDEN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — The rollout of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine has begun in New Jersey. The first to get the shot in the Philadelphia region was a group of 30 health care workers at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
Cooper is one of six hospital systems in New Jersey that have been given 76,000 doses. The other in South Jersey is AtlanticCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City.
When Rosetta Oliver, a nurse manager who has been caring for patients at Cooper for more than 30 years, rolled up her sleeves for the jab shortly after 10 a.m., others in the room cheered.
"I thought it was an honor to be the first. I can't believe it, the first? OK, I'm gonna get the vaccination. I'm gonna do it," she said.
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"I've gotten many vaccines in my life, so to get the COVID vaccine, I thought: OK, I'd rather have that than to actually have to go through COVID-19 myself."
Working in a hospital, Oliver and her colleagues have seen the worst that COVID-19 can do to people, so there was a lot of emotion in the room and a palpable sense of optimism. This is the path out of this crisis.
After she got the shot, Oliver held up a sign that read: "I got the COVID shot ... so I can travel!"
She said she feels better about coming to work, and she hopes to soon visit family she hasn’t seen in months.
"We want to go back to doing the things we used to do, so why not? And you want to protect yourself, and you want to protect your family. We all see it. It’s worldwide."
Cooper officials said 30 workers got vaccinated on Day 1. Each one signed in, then went into another room to get the shot, then moved on to an observation area for 15 minutes to make sure there were no adverse reactions.
While she wants life to get back to normal, Oliver said it is still important to keep herself safe as well as everyone else around her.
"I wear my PPE, but I still think I’ll feel safer knowing that I had the vaccine."
The two doctors who went after her shared the same sentiment and said they really felt like they could set a good example for their coworkers and patients by getting the vaccine.
"I believe in leading by example," said Dr. Guy Hewlett, medical director of labor and delivery, who was third to get the shot. "And if I’m gonna advocate this for my staff and my patients, then I think I should be able to go up and say, 'I did it.'"
Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, Cooper co-CEO, echoed the importance of building trust in the vaccine.
“We feel the more you learn about this process, the more likely you are to take this vaccine,” he said. “We know health care workers are excited about it, but we still want to make sure we give them the information to make the choice to do it. We think as health care workers take it, they’ll serve as influencers to have people outside of health care take it as well.”
KYW medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough agreed Tuesday that health care workers now receiving the vaccinations are setting an important example.
"In a sense, people are gonna see what’s happening in our group. And if there are issues, we’re certainly gonna know," he said Tuesday morning.
Cooper officials say they initially received 975 doses, which should last a week, and they believe they’ll have enough in the coming weeks and months to give the 8,000 workers there the first of the two injections the vaccination requires.
Meanwhile, the vaccine hasn’t reached other area hospital networks yet, like Virtua Health and Jefferson Health New Jersey. They anticipate the first doses to arrive next week.
“It’s our understanding from the federal and state government that there will be enough vaccine to meet the demand,” added fellow Cooper CEO Kevin O’Dowd.
The very first shots in the state began at 8 a.m. at University Hospital in Newark, with Gov. Phil Murphy in attendance.
And so, the first of three phases of New Jersey's vaccine distribution plan is underway. In Phase 1A, health care workers who come in contact with COVID-19 patients or infectious materials, and residents in long-term care facilities, are among the first to have access to the limited number of available doses.
This phase is expected to go through the beginning of 2021.
The governor, during a news conference on Monday, said everyone will have access to "one of these vaccines" by April or May. Murphy and other officials stress, however, that there is still a long way to go.
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“We are also in for several hard months, especially the next six to eight weeks,” Murphy said.
The United States COVID-19 death toll surpassed the 300,000 mark on Monday (300,494) according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The U.S., which is home to 4% of the world’s population, has 18.5% of all coronavirus deaths.