MONROE, La. — Vaccine distributions have begun across the country including hospitals and medical centers here in Louisiana.
Ochsner LSU Health’s Monroe Center is anticipating the arrival of the vaccine Tuesday morning with distribution in the afternoon. Glenwood Regional is anticipating a Wednesday arrival. St. Francis Medical Center hopes to receive them later this week. At Ochsner, the chief medical officer says this has been a day they’ve waited for since February and they’re excited to finally have what seems like the answer to the pandemic.
“You know it means a little bit of hope honestly. We’ve been through a lot over the last 10 months, you know since the end of February the healthcare workers, in general, have been hit hard. We’re excited to see an end. Even though there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, we still have some tunnels to go through,” said Dr. Michael O’Neal, Chief Medical Officer at Oschner LSU Health Monroe Office.
According to St. Francis, they’re saying, “We expect to recieve 975 intial doses within the next days for our team members and providers. we will be ready to administer these important vaccines according to the protocols as the supplies are available.”
A similar distribution will also be happening at Ochsner in Monroe.
“The treaters of the pandemic on the front line will be among those who are given the vaccine first. Our goal is that we have all of our employees vaccinated at some point according to the state and the CDC,” said O’Neal.
O’Neal says he workes with covid patients daily and looks forward to being one of the first groups to get the vaccine soon. As more information surrounding the distribution of the vaccine in our medical centers comes to our team, we will continue to update you.
