MISSOULA — Community Medical Center (CMC) received its shipment of the COVID19 vaccine as promised early Tuesday morning.
Medical staff worked quickly to get the 975 doses unboxed and put away accompanied by the necessary dry ice to keep it at its proper temperatures.
The first group of the 1,400 employees and medical staff will begin receiving the vaccine on Thursday -- with those who work in the closest proximity, especially those who are within six-feet of COVID patients, going first.
“We are tiering the process within our hospital starting with the caregivers who have the closest proximity and the greatest exposure to COVID patients,” CMC Medical Specialist for COVID-19 Task Force Dr. Nicole Finke said.
“Starting with our ICU, our Emergency Room folks, people in our First Care North clinics -- anybody dealing with our respiratory illness, and our outpatient lab,” Dr. Finke continued.
Since the number of CMC medical staff outnumbers the number of doses, some will have to wait until later shipments to get vaccinated.
St. Patrick Hospital and Kalispell Regional Healthcare also received their first COVID-19 vaccine shipments on Tuesday.