BALTIMORE — GBMC HealthCare began administering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to its frontline team members on Monday.
“Today, by administering the first round of vaccines to our team members, we start with new efforts to fight COVID-19, and we are very excited,” said John B. Chessare, MD, MPH, President and CEO of the GBMC HealthCare system. “Since the start of the pandemic, our team has continued providing the care we would want for our own loved ones and held their ground against the virus.”
The first injections of the vaccine were administered Monday morning, to approximately 200 members from different areas of medicine.
Frontline members of the Emergency Department (ED) and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) — which have been involved in the care of COVID-19 patients during the course of the pandemic—as well as Operating Room (OR) staff along with staff and providers from the Milton J. Dance, Jr. Head and Neck Center and the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department are among the first to receive the vaccine.
GBMC HealthCare is using a tiered approach for COVID-19 vaccination. Three tiers have been established based on risk of exposure and vulnerability.
The first recipient of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was William Zirkin, MD, a GBMC ED physician.
GBMC HealthCare expects to offer the vaccine to patients and the general public in 2021.
