5 Health-Care Workers In Maryland Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

BALTIMORE, MD — A Baltimore County resident was the first employee in the University of Maryland Medical System to receive the Pfizer vaccine for the coronavirus.

Shawn Hendricks, 50, was vaccinated at 1 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from the medical system.

“I am a nurse on the front lines of caring for COVID patients, and I believe in the science behind the vaccine,” Hendricks said. "Unless people start to get vaccinated, I think this pandemic will last longer, and get worse."

Hendricks, who was born in Baltimore, oversees multiple units caring for patients with the virus as a nursing director at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

"COVID has caused so much devastation in our communities, especially with minority populations and in people of color, and death in staggering numbers, that I never thought I would see in my lifetime,” Hendricks said. “We need to get COVID under control, so we can return to some type of normalcy."

As of Monday, Dec. 14, the Maryland Department of Health reports 4,978 people have died from coronavirus statewide, where nearly 237,000 people have tested positive for the virus.

“It’s already hit my family, and I don’t want it to hit my household,” said Hendricks, whose mother spent two months recovering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Her brother and brother-in-law were also diagnosed with the infection, officials reported.

The University of Maryland Medical Center received one tray of 975 doses of the vaccine Monday and anticipates another shipment this week. It is allocating doses across the 13-hospital system.

Hendricks was among five front-line health workers for the University of Maryland Medical System vaccinated Monday. The others were two physicians, a respiratory therapist and an environmental service worker.

“The historic undertaking to vaccinate Marylanders against COVID-19 is now underway,” said Gov. Larry Hogan, who personally thanked the front-line health care workers by Zoom call Monday. “This is an exciting day for the State of Maryland, and hopefully one we will look back on as the beginning of the end of this pandemic.”

After Hendricks, these were the first to receive the vaccine at the University of Maryland Medical System:

• Dr. Michael Winters is a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who has provided care for coronavirus patients during his clinical shifts as a physician in the University of Maryland Medical Center's emergency department. He is one of the leaders in the medical system’s COVID Incident Command.
• Dr. Sharon Henry is a professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of wound healing and metabolism at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. A shock trauma physician for 23 years, Henry has also cared for coronavirus patients.
• Daisy Solares, of Baltimore, is a respiratory therapist at the University of Maryland Medical Center. She has provided care for coronavirus patients and is trained to work in nine of the system's intensive care units and has worked for the system since July 2014. She lost her father to coronavirus.
• William Thomas of Baltimore is a 25-year employee who works in environmental services at the University of Maryland Medical Center's Midtown Campus.

Maryland’s COVID-19 vaccination plan begins with front-line health care workers; residents and staff of long-term care facilities; and first responders.

The University of Maryland Medical System received its first ultra-cold freezer Thursday for storing the Pfizer vaccine.

While medical systems are administering the vaccine to their employees, the 227 nursing homes and 1,668 assisted living facilities in Maryland will receive their vaccines through a federal distribution partnership with CVS and Walgreens.

See Also:

• Vaccine Freezer Arrives At University of Maryland Medical Center
• First MD Coronavirus Vaccines Could Arrive Next Week: Officials