Northwell Health begins using Moderna vaccine

Northwell Health began administering the new Moderna Covid-19 vaccine on Dec. 21 that was cleared for use by the FDA a few days earlier under an emergency use authorization.

A truck carrying a shipment of the vaccine arrived at Northwell Health”™s Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital just a week after Northwell became the first medical provider in the U.S. to administer the Pfizer Covid vaccine. Since then, more than 7,000 of Northwell”™s frontline workers have been vaccinated.

Northwell”™s hospitals include Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow and Northern Westchester in Mount Kisco. Phelps started administering the Pfizer vaccine to its staff on Dec. 15, inoculating 50 employees in the first round. A spokesperson told the Business Journal that the Moderna vaccine also is expected to be available at its Hudson Valley facilities.

Michael Dowling, Northwell”™s president and CEO, was on hand as registered nurse Arlene Ramirez, director of patient care for the emergency department at Long Island Jewish, received Northwell”™s first Moderna injection. Two injections are required spaced four weeks apart.

Northwell Health Moderna — Registered nurse Arlene Ramirez, director of patient care for the emergency department at Long Island Jewish, received Northwell”™s first Moderna vaccine injection.

The Pfizer vaccine also requires two injections but those need to be spaced three weeks apart. For long-term storage, the Pfizer vaccine must be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius while the Moderna vaccine can be kept at a warmer minus 20 degrees Celsius.

“These vaccines will help offer a level of protection that goes beyond mask-wearing, handwashing and social distancing. It is the bridge that gets us through this dark present and to a healthier future,” Dowling said.

Ramirez, who is 44 years old, was stricken by Covid-19 in March. Covid-19 claimed the life of her father. She volunteered to be the first Northwell Health employee to receive the Moderna vaccine.

“Not knowing whether I was going to make it was a horrible feeling,” Ramirez said. “The gasping for air, the fevers and headaches; I don”™t want to go through that again. And I don”™t want to put my family through that. If the Moderna vaccine is a measure to decrease that risk, then why not?”

Northwell is New York state”™s largest health care provider and private employer with 23 hospitals, nearly 800 outpatient facilities and more than 14,200 affiliated physicians. It has 74,000 employees that include 18,500 nurses and 4,500 physicians.