First COVID-19 vaccines arrive at Methodist Dallas Medical Center

Updated at 4 p.m.: Revised to include a statement from Gov. Greg Abbott.

Methodist Dallas Medical Center became the first hospital in North Texas to receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as a UPS truck delivered the shipment about 8 a.m. Monday.

Just after the supply arrived, Methodist Health System CEO Jim Scoggin said the health care system’s two primary objectives through the pandemic had been to protect patients and protect staff members.

“To be able to offer this vaccine now as further protection to both is a truly monumental day at Methodist, a monumental day in North Texas, a monumental day in Texas, and of course, throughout the world,” he said.

VP and Chief Pharmacy Officer Jon Albrecht receives a shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19... — VP and Chief Pharmacy Officer Jon Albrecht receives a shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arriving at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Dallas on Monday. The hospital is one of four sites across Texas receiving the shipment today. (Lynda M. González / Staff Photographer)

Among the first people to receive shots were physicians, nurses and nonclinical staff. Later in the day, the vaccine would be given to other health care workers and employees who interact closely with patients who have been infected with the virus.

More than 100 employees were getting vaccinated Monday, and immunizations will continue Tuesday morning as the hospital works to administer shots to 500 to 600 staff members within 36 hours.

“I’ve been in health care a long time. I’ve seen a lot of important events,” Scoggin said. “I can’t imagine a more important event than today. I can’t imagine a more special early Christmas present on behalf of the communities that we serve and the staff that we serve throughout North Texas.”

Reporters and photographers weren’t allowed inside to see Methodist dole out its first doses of the vaccine, but the hospital supplied video from the auditorium where the first immunizations were administered.

“I’m thankful for this day,” said Dr. Brad Sellers, who was waiting in line for the vaccine. “It’s been a long time coming. I’m thankful we’re going to be able to protect our staff and our patients.”

The people who had gathered in the auditorium broke into applause as 51-year-old Teresa Mata, an environmental services employee who cleans rooms in the emergency department, became the first person vaccinated shortly after 10 a.m.

“I want to protect all persons, I want to protect my family, and I want to protect myself,” said Mata, the mother of four daughters.

Vanessa Mongare, a COVID-19 unit nurse, said she was excited to be among the first people to be immunized.

Mongare, who is Black, said that she hoped her willingness to receive the shot helped reassure African Americans who had been concerned about how quickly the vaccine was developed.

“We can be a part of this to end it,” she said. “They can see me and know that I’m OK and that they can get the vaccine as well.”

Diana Alonzo, an emergency nurse, said she also stepped up to received the vaccine to set an example for her community.

“I can understand the fears,” she said. “I think most of the fear is not knowing, so taking the first step and educating yourself would definitely get rid of a lot of those fears.”

Monday’s shipment of 5,850 vaccines is about half of what Methodist will need to vaccinate all of its workers. With more supplies on the way, president and chief operating officer Pam Stoyanoff said the hospital system expects to finish those vaccinations before Christmas.

UPS driver Paul Pieroni, 55, gives a thumbs-up after delivering a shipment of the Pfizer... — UPS driver Paul Pieroni, 55, gives a thumbs-up after delivering a shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrives to Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Dallas on Monday. Pieroni, a UPS driver for 28 years, said it was humbling to bring the vaccines on their final leg of their trip to Methodist. “It’s touched all of us,” he said. “It impacts all of us. Let’s let the healing begin.”(Lynda M. González / Staff Photographer)

“2020 has been an incredibly difficult year for the entire world, and 2021 needs to be better,” Stoyanoff said. “This vaccine is going to help that.”

Paul Pieroni, a 55-year-old UPS driver, learned a few days ago he’d have the historic task of delivering the first COVID-19 vaccines in Dallas-Fort Worth. Weeks earlier, he’d lost a relative to the virus, he said.

As he backed the brown UPS truck into Methodist’s loading dock, photographers’ camera shutters clicked on the cold morning.

Pieroni, who has worked as a driver for 28 years, said it was humbling to carry the vaccines.

”It’s touched all of us,” he said before driving off from the hospital. “It impacts all of us. Let’s let the healing begin.”

Good morning from Methodist Dallas Medical Center. We’re here to see the first COVID-19 vaccine shipments arrive in D-FW. UPS truck just pulled in with the shipment. pic.twitter.com/o83eHgMulh
— Dana Branham 🌟 (@danabranham) December 14, 2020

Methodist and the three other sites across Texas set to receive supplies Monday — Wellness 360 in San Antonio, UT Health Austin Dell Medical School and the MD Cancer Center in Houston — got a total of 19,500 doses, according to the Department of State Health Services.

Nineteen sites combined will receive 75,075 doses Tuesday, including Parkland Memorial Hospital and UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Other facilities in Dallas County that are receiving supplies include Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, Medical City Dallas Hospital and Christus Health Clinic in Irving. In Collin County, Medical City Plano and Medical City McKinney are included. Eight institutions in Tarrant County also made the state’s list, including Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth and Cook Children’s Medical Center and Cook Children’s Occupational Health Services in Fort Worth.

Texas has been allocated 224,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the first week of distribution, and they will be doled out to 110 providers, according to the department.

“Seeing the first doses of vaccine arrive in Texas is an important milestone signaling that a return to our way of life is within sight,” State Health Services Department commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt said in a written statement. “We cannot stop short of the finish line. This hope should lift our spirits and strengthen our resolve to do what must be done to end the pandemic.”

When the Moderna vaccine is available, many more providers across the state will be able to get supplies.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, spaced three to four weeks apart.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who visited the White House on Monday for a briefing on the Operation Warp Speed vaccine development initiative, praised the effort.

“As Texas begins distributing COVID-19 vaccines across the state, I thank President Trump and the federal leaders who worked diligently to ensure the success of Operation Warp Speed,” the governor said in a written statement. “These vaccines will save lives and play a crucial role in our efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and bring hospitalizations down in our communities.”

Vaccine priorities

Although thousands of North Texans will receive their first dose of the vaccine this week, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson urged people not to become complacent about their safety.

“This is excellent news for our health care workers. But I also want to urge our residents to be patient,” he said. “We must continue to practice social distancing, wear masks and avoid crowds for now. This is the beginning of the end, but this process will take months.”

Because the initial supply of the vaccine will be limited, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins shared guidelines Monday for who should be inoculated first. The priorities were set by the Dallas County Public Health Committee, the DFW Hospital Council and the Dallas County Medical Society.

Among the first groups to receive the vaccine are health care workers who have close contact with COVID-19 patients, residents of long-term care facilities, first responders and other health care workers.

According to the guidelines, the people next in line would be essential employees, including teachers and daycare, transportation and grocery workers, and people who work in group settings such as homeless shelters and jails. Also high on the list are people who handle services related to water, sanitation and energy.

The recommendations also place a priority on people with health problems that may put them at a greater risk for contracting COVID-19 and racial or ethnic groups that are at a greater risk for suffering complications.

Dallas’ city government still hasn’t received approval from the state to be a direct provider of the COVID-19 vaccines and hasn’t been told that it will receive any from the first batch, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said.

Dr. S. Marshal Issacs, the department’s medical director, said Dec. 4 that it was unlikely the city would receive any of the initial vaccines because the city doesn’t employ frontline medical staff members who work in hospitals or nursing homes.

City officials have said they plan to make it a priority to use any supply it receives immunize first responders such as paramedics, firefighters and police. How and where that would happen hadn’t been settled by Monday.

Dr. Randy Jones, the executive director of Southern Methodist University’s Dr. Bob Smith Health Center, said Monday that SMU expects to receive vaccine supplies sometime in the new year.

When the supplies arrive, Jones said SMU plans to first vaccinate campus health care workers and frontline responders, including SMU police and employees of the health center, then other members of the SMU community.

Growing support

As medical workers begin receiving the first doses this week, the number of Americans who are ready to take the COVID-19 vaccine — one which has been developed and approved at a historic pace — has been growing, according to Pew Research polls.

About 60% of respondents in a December poll said they will certainly or probably get the vaccine, up from the 51% of Americans who said the same in a September Pew poll.

Still, about 20% of Americans said they’re “pretty certain” they won’t get the vaccine, according to the same survey.

Fears surrounding the blistering pace of vaccine approval have created hesitancy in a substantial portion of Americans. But organizations such as the National Safety Council, the leading nonprofit workplace safety advocate, are showing their confidence in the vaccine.

”Widespread support for the COVID-19 vaccine is critical — for both the health of our population as well as our economic recovery. Employers’ role is vital in adoption and rollout, and NSC urges employers to support the vaccine to keep their workers safe,” the organization said in a written statement last week after the FDA approved emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The organization urged all employers to begin planning for the vaccination of employees now and urged the federal government to release universal guidelines for distribution in the public and private sectors.

The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, which represents 14,000 nursing homes across the U.S., also has been urging trust in the vaccine as senior care facilities are high on the priority list.

The organization asked local authorities not to delay vaccinations for that hard-hit population.

”A one-month delay in distributing the vaccine to all long-term care residents and caregivers could result in more than 20,000 of our residents losing their life when a vaccine could protect them,” American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living president and CEO Mark Parkinson said in a written statement. “We’re in a life-or-death race against the clock.”

Texas’ vaccine schedule

These are the North Texas facilities that are slated to receive vaccines in Week One of distribution, according to the Department of State Health Services. Some counties in the region, including Rockwall, Denton and Ellis, were not selected to receive vaccines in the initial distribution.

Dallas County