Blessing Health System received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, December 23, and began vaccinating front line employees, including Emergency Center physician and Chief of Medicine, Dr. Chris Solaro.
“The vaccine itself has been proven through the usual process to be safe and effective,” he said. “And it’s not a virus that is getting injected into your body.”
“Really it is just a piece of what’s called RNA, which tells your cells to make a little protein that is very similar to the proteins that exist on the outside of the COVID-19 virus. But, it is not the virus itself,” Dr. Solaro continued.
“That protein then educates your immune system that this is a foreign protein and, were it to be the real thing, were it to be COVID-19, your immune system would now know how to fight it off,” he stated.
“I think, to protect yourself, protect your family, and protect people around you. And this is how we end the pandemic,” Dr. Solaro concluded.
Small shipments of the vaccine are scheduled to continue arriving at Blessing over the coming weeks until all 4,000 staff members who wish to receive it, have been vaccinated.