MANCHESTER — An intensive care unit nurse who was the first person to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in New Hampshire said Tuesday she wanted to inspire others to overcome their fears.
Heidi Kukla received her first dose of the vaccine Tuesday, and was quickly followed by four of her colleagues at Elliot Hospital in Manchester.
“I volunteered to be first to get this vaccine because I know a lot of people have reservations about getting the vaccine,” she said. “They’re worried about how fast it was produced, what the long-term effects may be, but I can assure you that there is absolutely nothing worse than being a patient on a ventilator in an ICU anywhere in this country right now with COVID, and the anguish of the family members that can’t be there.”
Health care workers are first in line for the vaccine under the state’s distribution plan. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette said the state expects to distribute all 12,000 doses in the initial shipment within about a week. Vaccinations of residents at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are scheduled to start Dec. 21, she said.
“As a nurse, this is a very emotional moment for me. For the last nine months we’ve been collectively searching for a solution to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. “As a community we now have our solution.”
The initial vaccinations were given outside in 27-degree weather, prompting one attendee to jokingly ask whether officials were highlighting the vaccine’s cold storage requirements.
“This is a typical New England-New Hampshire day, so nothing we can’t handle,” answered Gov. Chris Sununu.
Though he admitted to a fear of needles, Sununu said he is eager to get the vaccine. But unlike governors in some states, he plans to wait his turn.
“I’m 46, I’m fairly young, no other health conditions,” he said. “I know there’s talk of elected officials getting the vaccine before those in a long-term care facility or before nurses. I think that’s ridiculous, frankly.”
Kukla said she and her colleagues are often so busy they can’t spend as much time with grieving relatives as they would like.
“We don’t have the time to hold a family, the hands of the patients and calm them the way that we would like to,” she said. “So, getting this vaccine, for me, is the first step in having all of this be done. And I really hope that our getting this first inspires other people to not be afraid and to step up and to get the vaccine.”
Also receiving the vaccine with Kukla was Jen O’Neill, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at Elliot Hospital, physical therapist Sandy Mortimer, emergency department nurse Michelle Bryan, and obstetrician Dr. Melissa Martinez-Adorno.