Dr. Yves Troso this morning reflected on the year he, his colleagues and his city tried. The head of emergency medicine at Lennox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, Troso, spent many months caring for the worst patients, caring for his own safety and that of his colleagues.
According to Northwell Health, Pfizer became the first physician and second healthcare worker to be vaccinated against the corona virus novel, three days after the drug administration granted emergency approval for the drug.
“When I went inside today, I was very confident,” Troso said. He was one of five health workers who were vaccinated after 9 a.m. at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the Northwell Health area of Queens, New York.
Leading health care workers and elderly nursing home residents have been given priority as the United States releases the vaccine. Health workers across the country – including California, Texas and Florida – received the first dose of the two-dose vaccine today.
For many, the vaccine comes after the loss of colleagues. According to Lost on the Frontline, an alliance between the Guardian and Kaiser Health News, nearly 1,500 U.S. health workers have died after working at the forefront of the epidemic.
Many fell ill because hospitals could not provide personal protective equipment such as N95 respirators; Some of the victims were asked to go to work in the midst of staff shortages; The unspoken others still deal with the psychological and emotional number to work at the forefront.
Troso said he was lucky to be healthy during the outbreak, adding that some of his colleagues in the emergency department were injured, but no one was admitted to the hospital.
His family members have also been affected, and an elderly father-in-law, in his 70s, died of the virus in May, Troso said.
As a black man, Duroso said he felt a special responsibility to get his vaccine public. “There is a lot of reservation within some communities and there is reluctance to vaccinate,” he said. “Within those groups, there are the most vulnerable or the most vulnerable through the Govt. It is very important for those communities to get that message.”
In a recent poll by the Govt Co., only 14% of Black respondents said they believe the vaccine is safe. Black Americans are almost three times more likely to die than white Americans, and those inequalities in the Lost on the Frontline report extend to health workers as well.
Troso is scheduled to receive his second vaccine in three weeks. He said he will continue to look after social exclusion, wearing masks and washing hands until enough people are vaccinated to achieve the herd’s immunity. He encourages his patients to do the same.
He said his emergency room has been very busy since May as Govt cases are on the rise in New York.