Today, Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center began administering the first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to frontline team members. Mountainside Medical Center will administer 975 vaccinations from the first shipment of vaccines delivered to the hospital.  Steven Sokolowski, Respiratory Therapist marked the historic occasion by receiving the first dose.  

“This vaccine provides a sense of relief for our team members who have been on the frontlines since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Tim O’ Brien, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mountainside Medical Center. “By ensuring the safety and health of our team members and medical staff we can continue to take care of those impacted by this virus until the vaccine reaches the vast majority of the public.”

Sokolowski has been a part of Mountainside Medical Center’s Respiratory team for over two decades, and was one of five healthcare workers who got the first round of vaccinations today.  “I’ve seen how a person can be affected by COVID-19,” Sokolowski states. “I took the vaccine because I want to protect myself and my family.”

Mountainside Medical Center will be vaccinating front line team members and providers such as emergency, intensive care, medical/surgical staff as the highest priority recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine. This process will continue over weeks as shipments of the vaccine are received.