Madison, Wis. (WMTV) – The first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has been rolled into Madison and the first dose of the UW Health vaccine has been delivered.
The first UW Health employee to receive the Pfizer Covit-19 was respiratory therapist Dina Schubert, who received the vaccine at 2:30 p.m.
“I wanted to encourage people, especially patients like me,” Schubert said.
Schubert described caring for COVID-19 patients as “exhausting” and “heartbreaking.”
“We need to save more lives and I think this is the way to do this,” he said after receiving the vaccine.
The second employee to be vaccinated was UW Health Nurse Mavic Dzarts. According to UW Health, Dzarts is the head of a maintenance team at one of the COVID-19 units at the University Hospital.
Kojit-19 was followed by Dr. Ann Sheehi Djardes, a physician treating patients. UW Health staff shared both laughter and tears when the first vaccines were given.
“I think most of our staff are very excited, and this is a great day to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Matt Anderson, UW Health’s primary medical senior medical director.
The University of Wisconsin Health Systems announced Monday morning that they had received a vaccine – wasting no time before administering them.
UW Health announced on Monday afternoon that staff with the health system will be receiving footage soon, as they are following federal and state guidelines that recommend leading health care workers to be vaccinated first.
“They will be our respiratory therapists, our hospital medical team, the emergency department, the ICU, and the people who work in those environments provide direct care to patients,” Anderson explained.
The health services department sent 3,900 quantities in this first batch. After receiving the vaccines, UW Health moved them to intensive cold freezers, waiting for delivery.
Those 3,900 sizes are all first round sizes. The entire Pfizer vaccine requires two shots, and UW Health expects that second round in the next few weeks.
“We will vaccinate in advance and then when the time comes for those second doses, they will be given to us by the manufacturer,” Anderson explained.
UW Health is a health organization at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has more than 1,750 physicians and 21,000 staff at seven hospitals and more than 80 outpatient sites, according to its website.
UW Health also wants to reassure people that the vaccine is safe.
“Safety protocols have not been compromised in the name of speeding up these early vaccine advances,” Anderson said.
The health system is one of eight vaccination centers in Wisconsin that are expected to receive the vaccine this week.
SSM Health said NBC15 is likely to receive its first shipment on Tuesday. It is expected to receive a dose of 6,000, which will also go to leading health workers. An SSM health spokesman said about two-thirds of its staff said they were open when the vaccine arrived.
In New York, health workers have already begun receiving vaccinations with Sandra Lindsay, a key care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, who said she felt “relieved” after receiving the shot.
“I feel confident today,” he added.
Schubert echoed, saying he was glad the vaccine finally came here and came close to tears.
“This is important because many people have died from it,” he said.
This story is still evolving. NBC will provide 15 updates as more information becomes available.
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