LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Health care workers and those in long-term care facilities were the first in Louisville to get the COVID vaccine.
Now another group is in line to get the vaccine: first responders.
Medical first responders have been on the frontlines of this pandemic, transporting patients to the hospital. Monday they were able to get the first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
EMS workers have always put themselves in danger to help people, but COVID-19 has brought about some different concerns.
“It's been a new kind of danger that we’ve been in,” Buechel Fire & EMS Captain Cody Weiss said. “We have to worry about what we may get at work and take home to our families.”
Weiss was one of 71 medical first responders who got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine Monday. By Wednesday, 250 vaccines will go to these workers.
This drive-thru is in partnership with UofL Health, but the Louisville Metro Public Health Department will also be launching a drive-thru vaccination site in January at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
These first responders are in the 1A tier of vaccinations.
“The allocation goals for vaccine distribution are to help keep society running basically,” LMPHD Associate Medical Director Dr. Sarahbeth Hartlage said. “In particular if you think about first responders, they’re kind of a link between long-term care and hospitals. So an EMT might be called into a nursing home to pick up a patient and take them to the hospital.”
After getting the vaccine – these first responders waited to make sure they didn’t have a reaction, then were cleared by UofL Health staff. More first responders will be vaccinated as more doses become available.
“It went well,” Weiss said “It’s [as] pain free as any other shot or vaccine. It’s nice to know there’s an end in sight.”
Louisville Metro Public Health wants to stress these vaccines are by appointment only. If you are eligible, your employer will contact you directly.