The Alameda County Health Care Services Agency today started providing some of the first COVID-19 vaccinations to frontline medical workers and first responders at highest risk for exposure during a Point-of-Distribution (POD) at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward.
“The arrival of these first doses brings great hope to many including those who have battled against COVID-19 since last January. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our hospital and 9-1-1 frontline staff in the first phase of what we believe will diminish the impact of this global pandemic,” said Alameda County Health Care Services Agency Director Colleen Chawla.
This is the first phase of the State’s framework for COVID-19 vaccinations following the FDA’s emergency authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Healthcare workers and first responders at highest risk for COVID-19 will be the first to receive the vaccinations. Dignitaries attending this historic event include:
Supervisor Richard Valle, President, Alameda County Board of Supervisors ; Colleen Chawla, Director, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency ; Carolina Snypes, Falck Director and Chief, Falck Alameda County; William McDonald, Fire Chief, Alameda County; Curtis Jacobsen, Fremont, Fire Chief and President of the Alameda County Fire Chiefs Association; and Hayward Fire Chief Garrett Contreras.
“For the residents and businesses that have sacrificed time and again, know that your efforts are not wasted,” said Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Richard Valle. “This early phase of COVID-19 vaccine distribution is the first step toward a future when we can be together again.”
Aman Dhuper, president and CEO of St. Rose Hospital, said “Our hospital is proud to play an important role with the County in providing our healthcare staff and other first responders this vital and important life-saving vaccine. This is an historic moment for our community, our hospital, our staff and our county.”
Among some of the first frontline healthcare workers to receive the vaccinations were: Dr. Cliff Wong-Nephrologist Director of Dialysis Unit; Daljit Basi RN-works in PACU and Outpatient Surgery Units; Nanette Hinojales RN, MSN Director of ICU, Cath Lab and Dialysis Units; Redi Salhi RN, MSN- Manager of ED at St Rose; Roya Monshizadeh RN- Manager of Labor & Delivery and Nursery unit, and director of nursing at St. Rose Rozanne O’Keefe.
This effort by the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency at St. Rose hospital shows the importance of the public health agency in helping protect the most vulnerable of our Alameda County residents and the people who take care of them, the healthcare workers who have been so brave and valiant throughout this COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s to hoping that this is the start of the end of the pandemic. Many thanks to Alameda County Health Care Services Agency for its efforts to protect the public.