COVID Vaccines Administered To Staff At JFK Medical Center Edison

EDISON, NJ — Early on Thursday morning, the Hackensack Meridian JFK Medical Center in Edison received the first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses.

These doses were meant to be administered to their team members from different departments – an EMT, an emergency department administrator, a ICU nurse, and an ancillary support team member.

“When I caught word that the vaccine was going to be released, it was the first time in months that I felt hope,” said Charlene Letsch, RN, critical care unit.

“I feel that we’ve gone through so much with this and there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Letsch told Patch in a statement.

Five staff members of the JFK Medical Center received their vaccines around 3 p.m.

(Charlene Letsch, RN, critical care unit, prepares to get vaccinated. Hackensack Meridian Health)

( Christopher Tee, assistant director of environmental services after receiving his vaccination. Hackensack Meridian Health)

(Samuel LaCapra, M.D., chairman and medical director of emergency medical services. Hackensack Meridian Health)

(Armando Tamargo, Emergency Medical Technician, JFK EMS. Hackensack Meridian Health)

New Jersey is following the “Hub and Spoke” model to distribute the COVID vaccine. At Hackensack Meridian Health, officials identified Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, and JFK Medical Center as “hubs.”

These "hubs" will distribute the vaccine to the remaining acute care hospitals. By Friday vaccinations were sent out to Raritan Bay Medical Center Perth Amboy and Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge.

An official from JFK Medical Center said they are prepared to begin vaccination immediately, initially to team members and physicians who wish to be vaccinated and, then to patients.

The official told Patch that at this time, around 80 percent of the medical group's front-line team members have expressed their willingness to get the vaccine.

Vaccines were administered at hospitals across the state this week. The first vaccine in New Jersey was administered to Maritza Beniquez, an emergency room nurse at University Hospital in Newark.

"Although I'm living proof that PPE functions has kept me safe while at work, I'm honored to be the first person in New Jersey to receive this vaccine, which will limit the possibility of me contracting this disease and unknowingly transmitting it to others," she said.

On Friday Gov. Phil Murphy announced that New Jersey plans to open six vaccine "megasites" in January. These sites will provide COVID-19 vaccinations to residents who want them, starting with the state's health care workers and first responders.

Read More Here: Gov. Murphy: NJ Opening 6 COVID Vaccine 'Megasites:' Here's Where

"This allows us to put the infrastructure in place to administer the vaccine to every resident who wishes to be vaccinated," Murphy said.

The state’s goal is to get 70 percent residents vaccinated within six months. More than 2,000 people a day will be vaccinated at the "megasites."