On Dec. 17, 2020, front-line caregivers lined up at the two hospitals and felt a sense of hope that they could turn a page on the rough nine months they endured in the first leg of the COVID-19 pandemic. The city began administering vaccines less than a month later.
First doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered to health care workers in Worcester
WORCESTER It’s been “a rough nine months” in the two COVID-19 intensive care units for Fredrik Oestberg, a nurse educator at UMass Memorial Medical Center University campus.
But Oestberg had reason to be hopeful on Thursday, as he was first in line to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
“I’m hoping by getting the shot and by more and more people getting the shot, this will be the beginning of the end,” Oestberg said. “I think we all want to get back to normal again, and I think that this will be the thing that will help us get there.”
UMass Memorial providers receive first COVID shots at UMMS
Recipients see hope for ‘beginning of the end’ of pandemic By Susan E.W. Spencer and Bryan Goodchild
UMass Medical School Communications December 17, 2020
The word on everyone’s lips was “excited” as the first UMass Memorial Medical Center University Campus health care providers rolled up their sleeves Dec. 17 to receive their inoculation with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. They will return in three weeks for their second dose.
Leading the line in the UMass Medical School lobby at 11 a.m. was Fredrik Oestberg, RN, MSN, nurse education safety specialist for the medical intensive care unit at UMass Memorial University Campus. He didn’t flinch, barely noticing the needle prick as a nurse injected the vaccine.