COVID-19 vaccines arrive at Med Center Health

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.  – Med Center Health in Bowling Green received their first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Monday.

In what will forever be remembered as a monumental event in the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials at The Medical Center in Bowling Green say they are honored to have been selected by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Kentucky Commissioner for Public Health Dr. Steven Stack to be one of the first hospitals in Kentucky to receive an allocation of the initial Pfizer vaccine.

“We have been preparing for receipt and distribution since notified that Med Center
Health was the designated recipient for our region,” said Connie Smith, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Med Center Health. “We have seen first-hand the impact of this devastating
virus on our patients, physicians, and healthcare workers as well as the community. The vaccine
will be administered in accordance with priorities recommended by the Kentucky Department
for Public Health first to our nursing home patients, then to the front-line clinical staff members
caring for COVID patients here at Med Center Health.”

The Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer
vaccine on December 11 after conducting a thorough evaluation of the vaccine’s safety and
effectiveness. The vaccine will be administered in a series of two doses, three weeks apart.
According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, vaccine distribution details
after this initial rollout, including the number of doses and allocation plan, are expected to
change frequently.

“Now is not the time to let our guard down,” Smith added. “While the arrival of the
vaccine is a game changer in the fight against this pandemic, we recognize that the delivery of
subsequent vaccine for the general public will take time over several months. We all must
continue to wear a mask, practice proper hygiene and keep socially distant. Let’s finish this
together!”