Posted on December 23, 2020
Mary Free Bed receives first doses of COVID-19 vaccine
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital received its first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this morning and vaccinations began this afternoon.
Rehabilitation physician Richard Ball, M.D., was the first person immunized. He’s the medical director of the Mary Free Bed Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Program, which trains physicians specializing in rehabilitation medicine. Dr. Ball also performs specialized testing in Mary Free Bed outpatient programs.
The physicians, nursing staff members, therapists and representatives from the dietary and environmental services teams who followed were all thankful to begin the inoculation process. The remaining doses in this first shipment will be given to frontline caregivers next week.
“We owe a huge debt to the science and hard work that created the vaccines,” said Michael Jakubowski, Mary Free Bed chief medical officer. “We’re hopeful, humbled and grateful at Mary Free Bed to have these vaccinations.”
