Medical professionals on the frontlines were some of the first to get inoculated for COVID-19 in Springfield last week. St. John’s was designated by the state as the regional coordinating center for “Region Three” in west-central Illinois. The first doses were given Dec. 16.
St. John’s received a shipment of vaccines to distribute to several hospitals, including ones in Jacksonville and Taylorville.
Sangamon County was given an initial allotment of 705 dosages from the state, according to an email from the governor’s office to reporters on Dec. 17. St. John’s and the capital city’s other major hospital, Memorial Medical Center, split the dosages.
“The doses were administered to clinical colleagues providing direct patient care, all of whom voluntarily consented to receive the vaccine. At this time, Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) is not requiring its colleagues to receive the vaccination, although they are recommending colleagues receive the vaccine when it is available to them,” according to a news release from St. John’s.
According to NPR Illinois, both St. John’s and Memorial plan to utilize additional doses from the vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as a result of the Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration approving a sixth and even seventh dose out of vials originally thought to only contain five.
Dr. Prashant Jagtap, St. John’s Hospital medical director of critical care, was one of the first to receive the vaccine in Springfield. “We are so grateful to have the vaccine available to our frontline colleagues,” he said in a news release. “Vaccinations give us an additional tool to help our colleagues stay healthy to serve our patients as we continue to battle this pandemic in our hospital.”
According to St. John’s, it will still be several months before the vaccine is accessible more broadly “to all members of our communities.” The hospital and other medical experts stress that the pandemic is not yet over. People still need to be vigilant about social distancing, hand washing and wearing masks to help stem the spread of infection.
A previous version of this story said St. John’s chose to split its allotment of dosages with Memorial. That phrasing was incorrect. The decision was made by the Sangamon County Department of Public Health.
Contact Rachel Otwell at rotwell@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Home for the holidays, sadly.
