Methodist Dallas has begun vaccinating doctors and nurses who work directly with COVID-19 patients. Methodist Dallas and three other hospitals in Texas received a total of 19,500 doses of the vaccine Monday morning.
Of those 19,500, 5,850 went to Methodist Dallas. After the vaccine was delivered, hospital officials said it needed 30 minutes to thaw, and the first doctors and nurses were expected to get their shot at 10:30 a.m.
"We just found out yesterday, for sure, that we were going to get the vaccine today," says Pam Stoyanoff, president and chief operating officer of Methodist Health System.
"We try to say, 'thank you,' as much as we possibly can in tangible and intangible ways," says Methodist Health Chief Executive Jim Scoggin. "Of course, the best answer to all of this is prayer, and we've been doing a lot of that."
Stoyanoff expected 120 doctors and nurses to receive their first shot Monday. By Christmas, she hopes more than 10,000 staff members at Methodist Health will have received their first shot.
"We don't want a caregiver to give it to a patient or vice versa," Stoyanoff says. "We want everybody to be safe, and so everybody's going to feel a lot better about that."
Tuesday, 19 other hospitals across Texas are expected to receive their first shipment of the vaccine. The Texas Department of State Health Services says 75,000 doses of the vaccine will arrive at that those hospitals, which will include Parkland and UT Southwestern in Dallas, and Texas Health Resources in Fort Worth.
The vaccine will first be available to doctors, nurses and other staff who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients, followed by other hospital employees, pharmacy workers, people who work at clinics and those who administer COVID-19 tests.
Even though the vaccine has started arriving in Texas, Stoyanoff says people will still need to wear masks, maintain social distancing and avoid large gatherings into next Spring.
"This vaccine won't get to the general public for months, and so it's going to take us some time to work through that process," she says. "Everybody does have to stay patient yet excited."
Methodist Health System
Methodist Health System CEO Jim Scoggin and President and COO Pam Stoyanoff pictured with UPS delivery manMethodist Health System
Methodist Health System
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