VANCOUVER, Wash. — Hospital officials at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver said they expect to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccination within days.
“I think we are very cautiously optimistic about vaccines,” said Dr. Lawrence Neville, Chief Medical Officer for PeaceHealth Columbia Network.
Neville said if the FDA approves the Pfizer vaccine this week, PeaceHealth should get its first doses next week. He said the Moderna vaccine could arrive a week after that.
As of Wednesday, PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center was caring for 27 COVID-19 patients, five of them in the intensive care unit. That's down from 54 COVID-19 patients just 2 weeks ago. Neville said the decrease is a welcome reprieve as medical staff prepare for a possible case surge.
“Folks not being as careful as they might have been over Thanksgiving and expecting 2-4 weeks thereafter, given the lifecycle of the virus and how it spreads,” said Neville. “We would see increases in our community of folks who are sick.”
Neville urged people to stay the course while the public waits to get vaccinated, a process he expected could take 6-12 months. Neville said everyone should continue to wear masks, observe social distancing and wash their hands, often.
“Anyone that has come into our COVID unit sick with COVID knows that the virus is real,” said Jackolyn DeCillo, Nurse Manager of PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center’s 6th floor COVID-19 isolation unit. It’s a position she’s held since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Seeing it from March until now, our staff is very resilient and they make the best of what they have,” said DeCillo. “It's been an amazing evolution over the last nine months.”
Advancements include developing critical strategies to conserve personal protective equipment to dedicating mental health resources for caregivers working in the COVID-19 unit.
“We realize it can be very stressful working in the environment, working in PPE all day,” said DeCillo. “We want to make sure we're taking care of their physical and emotional health.”