O’FALLON – Today, February 11, 2021, at 10:45 a.m., HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital delivered the 10,000th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Elizabeth Stevens, 72 of East Carondelet, was the recipient of this milestone dose of the Moderna vaccine in the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
When asked how she felt getting the vaccine, Stevens said, “When they contacted us, I said ‘Wow', I was excited to get it.” Both Elizabeth and her husband Ralph signed up for vaccine notification through the St. Clair County Health Department’s website and were notified by HSHS St. Elizabeth’s when appointments were available.
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St. Elizabeth’s administered the first vaccinations on December 17, 2020, and have stood-up clinics for eligible persons ever since. The vaccination clinic administers both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for first and second doses. The clinic is by appointment only. No walk-ins are accepted.
Patti Fischer, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital president and chief executive officer, said, “We worked quickly when the first vaccines arrived and administered first and second doses to our colleagues and other front-line health care workers in phase 1A. Now we continue, under the direction of the St. Clair County Health Department, to vaccinate our most vulnerable elderly population in the county.”
St. Elizabeth’s colleagues are excited that the COVID-19 vaccine quantities continue to become available in our communities and are proud to be a site administering this important vaccine.
“10,000 vaccine appointments are huge for our community and I can’t say enough about our vaccine clinic team for making it all happen,” Fischer added. “It is a huge team of colleagues from staff education, emergency management, nursing, pharmacy, IT, registration and so many more that are involved in the logistics of getting shots in arms which is our number one priority!”
The hospital is administering between 350-500 vaccines each clinic day. Through the detailed coordination efforts of the clinic team and St. Clair County personnel, not one dose has been wasted. The hospital will continue to vaccinate those in the community as doses are available and following the timeline and phases set by the state and county. Current eligibility includes residents of St. Clair County who are 65 and older and those persons in the phase 1A group.
“It’s been a challenging year and it’s nice to start to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I want to strongly encourage our community to be patient with vaccine availability but when your time comes, please get vaccinated,” Fischer said.
The public is still urged to do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19. Continuing to grow the number of people vaccinated is important but it’s not the only thing that’s going to end the pandemic. St. Elizabeth’s urges the public to continue to take all the health and safety precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19:
- Wear a mask
- Wash your hands
- Social distance
- Don’t gather in large groups
- Stay home if you are sick
