PITTSBURGH — UPMC frontline workers on Tuesday received their second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Health care providers received their first dose on Dec. 14.
Among those getting their booster shot Tuesday is Charmaine Pykosh, an acute care nurse practitioner, who has worked at UPMC for about 30 years.
She was the first UPMC employee to get a COVID-19 vaccine; in fact, she was one of the first frontline workers in the state to get vaccinated against the virus.
She said she had no side effects after her first dose, other than a sore arm for a day or two.
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“It’s been a long haul since last spring. At that time, you just don’t know if you can make it and not get sick until there’s a vaccine. And you finally make it, so that does make you feel a little more comfortable,” said Pykosh.
We’re still in what’s being called Phase 1A of the state’s vaccine rollout plan.
That phase includes health care workers, first responders and people living in long-term care facilities.
Less than 0.1% of Pennsylvania’s population has received the first dose of the vaccine.
Besides Pykosh, nine other UPMC employees got their second dose of the vaccine here at Children’s Hospital. One of those employees is a doctor in the emergency department.
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