MANCHESTER, NH – Heidi Kukla, a registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at the Elliot Hospital, on Tuesday became the first person in New Hampshire to receive the Phizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
Kukla, 57, volunteered to be first because she wants people to know it is “better than dying alone on a ventilator in an ICU.”
Kukla was one of five nurses who, in a ceremony outside the hospital, were administered the doses by fellow nurses. They will need a second one or booster shot in 21 days.
Dr. Greg Baxter, president of Elliot Health System and Chief Clinical Officer for Solution Health, said the Elliot and Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua were allocated an initial 390 vaccines. They identified 2,000 of their 8,000 employees who were at high risk of contracting the novel coronavirus and who would be first in line for the vaccines.
Baxter said those included employees working in the intensive care units, including the COVID wards, as well as in emergency rooms where they are at risk for exposure to the virus. He expects the 390 doses will be administered within two weeks.
Lori Shibinette, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said the state received 12,000 doses of the vaccine and expects that those will be administered within the next two weeks.
She said, as a nurse, Tuesday was a “very emotional moment” for her, to be there with the Elliot staff knowing that a vaccine that was 95 percent effective in fighting COVID-19 was being administered.
“We need everyone to take this vaccine,” she said.
Shibinette said her reason for getting the vaccine, when her time comes, is for the healthcare workers so they needn’t fear bringing the virus home to their families. And, she said, it was for nursing home residents so they could once again have dinner and play bingo. And so students can return to classrooms and so kids can go back to playing sports.
Shibinette is in a low-risk group, as is Gov. Chris Sununu, but both said when their time came they would be vaccinated.
Sununu said unless an elected official was in a high-risk group he thought it was “ridiculous” for them to get the vaccine ahead of health care workers or nursing home residents.
The vaccine, he said, is the light at the end of a tunnel.
“Distributing this vaccine is one of the most important undertakings in the history of our state. New Hampshire is prepared and we are moving,” Sununu said.
While the vaccine is highly effective, Sununu said the concern is that people will forgo wearing masks and social distancing once vaccinated. Both, he said, will have to continue for some time.
The vaccine does not provide immediate protection from COVID-19, according to the FDA, but it does provide protection for some people about 10 days after the first dose. The second dose boosts immunity about 90 percent.
According to state health officials, it could be six to 12 months before there is widespread access to the vaccine. In the first phase, 100,000 people will be vaccinated those in the healthcare field, in nursing homes, and first responders.
In the second phase, people at significantly higher risk and older adults residing in congregate settings will receive the vaccine. It is not expected to be available to the general public until next spring.
