CLEVELAND — It is a good day for several frontline healthcare workers in Cleveland.
After the first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Northeast Ohio yesterday, medical professionals at the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, and Aultman Hospital in Canton were among some of the first to be immunized on Wednesday morning.
At the Cleveland Clinic, healthcare professionals say that the arrival of the vaccines could not come soon enough, and expressed gratitude to Pfizer and everyone who worked endlessly to produce a vaccine so quickly.
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"This day is just incredible," said Jennifer Loebick, RN, ICU nurse, Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital. "It truly is like the light at the end of the tunnel."
Despite the earliest doses of the vaccines arriving, many healthcare providers said on Wednesday morning that now is not the time to get complacent and that people need to keep up the mask-wearing and social-distancing to keep the most vulnerable citizens protected.
"I want the community to still wear masks," said Loebick. "I want them to know that, even though there's a vaccine, we still have to be vigilant. That we can't just think the vaccine is going to get rid of this pandemic."
On Tuesday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said that Ohio expects to see an additional 420,000 doses of the Coronavirus vaccine arrive by Christmas, and nearly 200,000 more by New Year's Eve.
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