Kayla Mitchell, RN, BSN, became the first care team member at MaineHealth to receive the COVID_19 vaccine. Mitchell, 31, is a nurse who treats COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit at Maine Medical Center.
Mitchell said, “I’m excited to be able to be a part of the solution and make the community a safer place at this critical moment. I’ve watched people suffer with this illness. I trust the science, and I trust that this is a solution.”
She is one of 150 MaineHealth caregivers scheduled to be vaccinated today. Dec. 15.
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According to the MaineHealth press release:
Mitchell is one of 150 MaineHealth caregivers scheduled to be vaccinated today at Maine Medical Center in Portland and Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford. Tomorrow vaccinations will start at a third MaineHealth hospital, Mid Coast-Parkview Health in Brunswick. Those three southern Maine hospitals have treated the most COVID-19 patients during the pandemic within MaineHealth and were prioritized for the first doses for that reason.
MaineHealth is set to receive an initial allotment of 1,900 doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer during the first week of distribution. Initially, distribution will focus on Intensive Care Unit teams, front-line Emergency Department caregivers, those providing care in dedicated COVID-19 inpatient units and other critical and essential inpatient services not available elsewhere.
A second vaccine, made by Moderna, is set for review by the Food and Drug Administration’s expert panel on Thursday. Assuming that vaccine is approved, MaineHealth is expecting another 15,775 doses to arrive beginning the week of Dec. 21, including another 975 Pfizer doses with the balance from Moderna. That will be enough vaccine to inoculate all of MaineHealth’s direct caregivers.
