LYNN — The shot took less than five seconds to administer, but it will save Anna Perez from months of stress and worry.
Perez, a dentist at the Lynn Community Health Center, was the first person in Lynn to receive the new Moderna vaccine, which has been shown to be 94 percent effective at preventing COVID-19.
“You know, I didn’t feel a thing,” she said. “But my arm feels very good, and I feel comfortable. I didn’t know I was going to be the first person. I have no words to say how much I appreciate the opportunity.”
The two-dose Moderna vaccine was authorized for use by the United States last Friday, after it was shown to be effective at preventing the virus in a study of 30,000 volunteers aged 18 and older. It also strongly protected older adults, who are most vulnerable.
It differs from the Pfizer vaccine which was also recently released in that it doesn’t need to be stored at ultra-frozen temperatures.
“We just decided that Pfizer was too complicated,” said Kiame Mahaniah, the LCHC Chief Executive Officer. “The Moderna vaccine was more user-friendly.”
LCHC received its first round of vaccines Tuesday. Geoff Pechinsky, the Chief Medical Officer at LCHC, was hopeful that the vaccine could help them continue to assist the local hospitals in dealing with the virus.
“I’m optimistic,” said Pechinsky. “We’ve all been very tired and worried the last nine months. “
LCHC plans to get all its workers vaccinated within the next few weeks, beginning with the frontline staff that have the most contact with patients. Then they plan to work with the community to distribute vaccines and dispel fears about vaccination.
“When we start getting larger doses of the vaccine we’ll have to start an outreach campaign, said Mahaniah. “Obviously people of color are most likely to be suspicious because of the history of discrimination in this country. They really have to know that we trust it. Because otherwise, you’ll see places like Newton with a 90 percent vaccination rate and we’re still seeing high rates of infection.”
Lynn has been hard hit by COVID-19, with 10,375 total cases and 151 deaths reported in the city.
Mahaniah hopes to leverage personal relationships to convince the people of Lynn to vaccinate.
Francisco Espinal, a registered nurse who received the second dose of the vaccine said that the process was easy.
“It didn’t even hurt,” he said, after the shot was administered. “It feels nice to actually have gotten it. I hope I can provide some more reassurance to others who are concerned about taking the vaccine.”
Moderna expects to have between 100 million and 125 million doses available globally in the first three months of 2021, with 85-100 million available in the United States, according to the Associated Press.
The state had released a three-phase distribution plan for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines Dec. 9, which intends to administer two million doses by the end of March.
Phase 1 of the vaccination plan targets health workers, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services, and those in high-risk, close-contact settings such as shelters, group homes and correctional facilities,
Phase 2 is scheduled to begin sometime in February, with individuals deemed high risk for COVID-19 (those with two or more underlying conditions that can complicate a COVID-19 diagnosis) at the top of the list.
It also includes all other essential workers — teachers, transit, grocery, sanitation, utility, food and agriculture — followed by adults 65 and older and those with one complicating health factor.
In Phase 3, set to begin in April, the vaccine will be available to the general public.
Both Perez and Espinal plan to continue following social distancing guidelines after receiving the vaccination.
“I know that we have to continue with the masks, and the cleaning,” said Perez. “I have the vaccine but not everyone has it, so I have to protect the other people that are in the world — my patients, my crew. I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Guthrie Scrimgeour can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @g_scrimgeour.
