Appalachian Hospital In Kentucky Vaccinates Workers

AP News, Dec. 15, 2020. PIKEVILLE, Ky. — The new COVID-19 vaccine arrived at an Appalachian hospital in Kentucky, and medical workers received the first injections.

The Pikeville Medical Center was one of a handful of regional hospitals to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Tuesday.

Dr. Fadi Al Akhrass, Pikeville Medical’s infectious disease specialist, received the first injection during a live-streamed news conference Tuesday afternoon. Al Akrass urged the public to have confidence in the vaccine.

“I’m a true believer that this is going to be our only option, and it’s going to be an amazing option to turn around this pandemic,” he said.

The hospital, which was required to have facilities for ultra-cold storage, received 975 doses meant for medical workers. A Louisville hospital received the first Kentucky shipment of the vaccine on Monday.

Health care workers are first in line for the vaccine, but about 25,000 doses from the first batch to Kentucky will be dedicated to vaccinating people in long-term care facilities. Gov. Andy Beshear said he hopes to have the entire long-term care population vaccinated within two months...

More, https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-europe-coronavirus-pandemic-germany-coronavirus-vaccine-13716eb0fc91706d09333d00e31a36f6



- FedEx driver Jeremy Cloud scans a box of the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 before putting it in a freezer, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, shortly after it arrived at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, south of Seattle. The hospital plans to start the first round of vaccinations on Wednesday.