Cleveland Firefighters, EMS Workers Begin To Receive Vaccinations

Cleveland OH

24 December, 2020

9:54 AM

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CLEVELAND — Cleveland firefighters and EMS workers were among those who received the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday after doses of Moderna arrived in Cleveland earlier this week. Cleveland Fire Chief Angelo Calvillo said in a video posted on the City of Cleveland's Facebook page that frontline workers, including firefighters working on Thursday, would receive the vaccine before a booster would arrive in another 28 days under Phase 1A of the vaccine distribution. "What a gift today," Calvillo said in social media post after being the first frontline worker in the city to receive the vaccine. "A Merry Christmas Eve gift is a gift of hope, hope of the vaccine to put this pandemic to rest. He added: "We have to believe in the science, we have to trust. This is a wonderful day …Together, we are going to persevere and we are going to put this pandemic to rest." Over the next six days, all Cleveland firefighters and EMS workers will be vaccinated, Calvillo said. Once the first shots were received by Calvillo and other EMS workers Thursday morning, frontline workers would be assisting with the vaccinations of other frontline workers. Once that is complete, the process would continue will vaccinating others in the city that are eligible for the Moderna vaccine during the first phase of distribution, Calvillo said. In the video, Calvillo encouraged Cleveland residents —especially people of color — to get vaccinated once the time comes when the vaccinations are made available to the general public. Other frontline workers, including police officers, along with the elderly, are among those who are scheduled to be the first to receive the vaccine before additional doses of the vaccine arrive in the state beginning in early 2021, Calvillo said. The first doses of Moderna arrived in Cleveland earlier this week, a week after the Pfizer vaccine arrived at hospitals across the region. Hospital officials said last week that they expect anyone who wants to be vaccinated to be able to do so by late summer. The Moderna vaccine is arriving as area hospitals are seeing the highest numbers of coronavirus hospitalizations since the pandemic began in the spring. On Wednesday, an additional 7,790 positive coronavirus cases were announced in Ohio, taking the number of cases statewide to more than 745,000 since the pandemic began. An additional 109 deaths were announced Wednesday, taking Ohio's death toll to 8,361. After receiving the first vaccination among Cleveland first responders on Thursday, Calvillo stressed the importance of getting the shot as it becomes available. "Please, get the vaccine," he said. "Do it for yourself, for your family, for your children, for your grandparents, for the elderly so that you're protected."