ProHealth Urgent Care, a medical facility serving patients on St. Croix, continues to take every initiative and precaution during the COVID pandemic to care for the community’s safety.
ProHealth received its allocated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17, and by 2 p.m., the majority of the staff were already vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. The process was part of Phase 1a of the rollout, allotted for front line healthcare workers as defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the USVI Department of Health (DOH). ProHealth Urgent Care also received a shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines on Monday, Dec. 21.
With over 40 years of medical experience, Medical Director Dr. John Charles Perez was the first to receive his COVID vaccine at ProHealth on Thursday. When asked how he felt to have taken the long-awaited vaccine, Dr. Perez said, “I feel like a million bucks! I have been encouraging our patient population to embrace the COVID vaccine and felt it was important to lead by example. I would never recommend for our patients what I would not do for myself or my family. I consider our community members as family.”
According to Executive Director Ann Mullings, Ph.D., “Shortly after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, the DOH was able to quickly and strategically distribute the vaccines within the territory. There has been nationwide concern among healthcare workers throughout this COVID-19 pandemic. This week has been the most hopeful week since the pandemic began.”
Mullings also expressed that “the COVID vaccine will now allow healthcare workers to safely care for the patients we serve, and to contribute to immunity levels within our community.”
Operations Manager Trisha Harris, Ph.D., and RN Supervisor Alexa Cintron were instrumental in organizing the team and preparing the COVID-19 vaccines to be administered as soon as they were received. Harris said, “At ProHealth, we are doing what we can to combat the pandemic and return to some sense of normalcy. The COVID-19 vaccination is the first step in that direction.”
ProHealth Urgent Care is committed to safety and is poised to administer both the Pfizer and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. The COVID-19 vaccinations are being provided through a phased approach led by the CDC and DOH. The phased guidelines outlining the next patient population to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, along with start date, will be communicated by the CDC and the DOH. ProHealth emphasizes that the vaccine is not to be feared but is instead something to be embraced as a way of keeping the community healthy and safe.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is for use in individuals 16 years of age and older. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to Moderna for its vaccine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the vaccine for people ages 18 and older.
ProHealth Urgent Care LLC is a new state-of-the-art ambulatory care facility on St. Croix that offers diagnosis, observation, consultation, treatment, intervention, laboratory, pharmacy and imaging services on an outpatient basis (www.prohealthvi.com).
