Hollywood Nurses Receive Coronavirus Vaccine At Kaiser Hospital

HOLLYWOOD, CA — A watershed moment came about in the conference room at a Kaiser Permanente hospital Monday afternoon, as several nurses received their initial doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. Governor Gavin Newsom, Mayor Eric Garcetti and more looked on as nurse Helen Cordova joked around with the crowd before taking the vaccine shot in her upper right arm.

Kaiser Permanente was among the first hospitals in California to receive their vaccine doses. Four other medical personnel received doses during the ceremony: Kim Taylor and Brian Thompson from the emergency department; Angela Balam, an environmental services worker; and Raul Aguilar, who works in respiratory therapy according to the L.A. Times.

"We front-line workers have been working around the clock over the past nine months, sacrificing so much of what we do and love to take care of our patients," Taylor said after receiving a dose. "We've been doing this while trying to take care of our own families and keep them safe. What I want you guys to know is that help is on the way. Today is just a first step. Soon more vaccines will be distributed to the front-line workers and our most vulnerable populations."

Government officials quickly expressed their optimism that the arrival of the long-awaited vaccine marked the beginning of the end of the coronavirus era.

"A turning point in the course of this pandemic: health care workers in L.A. have begun to receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine," Garcetti tweeted after the ceremony. "This is only day one –– the first step on a months-long road ahead. But we're inching closer to the end."

L.A. County expects to receive an initial batch of 82,875 doses of the vaccine, according to Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. The county anticipates receiving another 150,000 doses of vaccine by the end of December, followed by weekly allotments of 250,000 beginning in January.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, separated by about three weeks. With the county planning to vaccinate 6 million people in six months, that equates to 12 million doses of vaccine.

California plans to reserve initial vaccinations for health care workers, skilled nursing facilities and those who live or work at long-term care facilities. Next, essential workers and those in the high risk tiers (such as seniors or those with underlying health conditions) will receive the vaccine.

Finally, doses will be made available for the general public. A timeline on when general distribution may be available isn't yet known, and Garcetti stressed that L.A. residents continue to take precautions until the fight is finished.

"We are marching through the horror of this moment," Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "There's no way around that, with 10 times the cases we had just six weeks ago in this county. But today, we're also marching through the hope of this moment. And we hold that horror and that hope together -- the horror reminding us that while we celebrate today, don't let up. Don't stop doing what's right, and keeping that distance and wearing that mask, ... making sure you wash your hands, and stay away from each other. It is not the time to let up."

City News Service contributed to this report.