GERMANTOWN, Tenn. — Shipments of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine were distributed throughout the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System on Thursday morning. Methodist received 3,900 doses for all of its hospitals.
Several of the nurses and doctors at Methodist Germantown Hospital on Thursday said they are excited to set the example moving forward.
“This is an early Christmas present. Christmas has just come early this year,” said Dr. Nav Rangi as he rolled up his sleeve. “As an anesthesiologist, we’re faced with a lot of airways issues and we’re one of the highest risk for getting the COVID disease.”
He said even though he battled on the frontlines to treat others, he had fears about the virus.
Rangi says at one point, he slept in a different section of his home to protect his family.
“Our surge currently is worse than anything I’ve seen throughout the whole year, and it is stressing our system as well as our personnel close to what I would consider a breaking point,” he said.
But with a vaccine, he says there’s hope among hospital staff that one day soon things can get back to normal.
“I think it’s going to be an extremely important step in helping us suppress the spread of the virus,” said Dr. Ben Bowman, medical director of the emergency department.
Bowman says while he understands people have their concerns, he wants to encourage everyone vaccination is the safest option.
“Regardless of which vaccine it is, I would strongly encourage everyone, especially those at high-risk, to obtain it. I think it’ll go a long way in helping us all recover,” he said.
In a recent survey, only 45% of staffers at Methodist said they plan to get the vaccine; 26% said maybe and 28% said they would not get the shot.
Methodist has not made the vaccine mandatory, leaving the decision up to each individual employee. But the hospital is urging its workers to get vaccinated, providing them with some educational material to help them make the best choice.