12 | JANUARY 14 • 2021 

a.m. and finished around 4 
p.m. More than 130 people 
were administered the first 
dose that day.
Most long-term care facil-
ities will be receiving the 
Moderna vaccine due to the 
specific refrigeration and 
temperature needs the Pfizer 
vaccine calls for. 
The residents were mon-
itored for 15 minutes after 
receiving the vaccine, and 
wellness checks were done the 
morning after for every resi-
dent. The follow-up clinic for 
Coville and Prentiss 1 takes 
place Feb. 1.
JSL scheduled its next clin-
ic for the first doses for Jan. 
12-15, covering five buildings 
in that time span. 
Nancy Heinrich, CEO of 
JSL, also received the first 
dose of the vaccine on Jan. 4 
and said a couple residents 
and staff have had minor side 
effects, but they all seem to be 
doing well. 
“We’re just thrilled, and we 
view this as a beginning of 
a new chapter and the end 
of the 2020 chapter, and we 
couldn’t be happier for our 
residents and the community 
at large as this continues to 
roll out,” she said. “Every jour-
ney starts with the first step, 
and we’re just happy to be on 
this journey.”

BEAUMONT LOGISTICS
Dr. Jeffrey Fischgrund, 
chairman of the Department 
of Orthopedics at Beaumont 
Hospital in Royal Oak and 
chief of Clinical Services for 
Beaumont Health, led clinical 
operations for Beaumont’s 
COVID response and was 
heavily involved with a large 
team leading the vaccination 
efforts to roll it out in a short 

time. 
The Beaumont vaccinations 
started on Dec. 15; Fischgrund 
received the Pfizer vaccine 
on Dec. 22. Like Henry Ford, 
the highest priority healthcare 
workers were identified, from 
everyone in the emergency 
department and COVID 
floors to the people who draw 
blood and clean the rooms. 
“They’re all vital to keep 
the hospital running, so that 
made up 11,000 people across 
our eight-hospital system,” 
Fischgrund said. 
When describing the logis-
tics of the facilities receiving 
the vaccine, Fischgrund made 
clear that the vaccine is owned 
by the federal government, 
and that their shipment is 
totally dependent on what 

their need is and what the 
state can give to them. 
“The federal government 
gives it to the state, the state 
gives it to us, and then we 
have to act as stewards of the 
vaccine,” Fischgrund said.
Beaumont has eight sites 
and a central administrative 
building, and each site gets 
the same distribution from 
the state. As a health system, 
though, Beaumont chose to 
consolidate for safety and 
efficacy, with all doses going 
to the administrative building, 
where the vaccine clinic with 
pharmacists and nurses is set 
up. 
“It’s just been nonstop day-
by-day issues we’ve had to 
face since March that we’ve 
never seen before,” Fischgrund 

said, reflecting on the past 
year before the rollout. “This 
is the first positive COVID 
news we’ve had in almost nine 
months, and it’s just such a 
relief to see the faces of the 
people getting the vaccine. 
There’s such joy and happiness 
that we can start turning the 
corner.”
According to Fischgrund, 
Beaumont Health has vac-
cinated more than 13,500 
healthcare professionals as 
of Jan. 4 and will soon have 
capacity to vaccinate more 
than 3,000 people a day. 

RESEARCHER’S PRIDE
Kate Zenlea, managing direc-
tor of HFHS’ Global Health 
Initiative and the hospital’s 
Phase III vaccine trial for 
Moderna and Johnson & 
Johnson, said the authorization 
of the Moderna vaccine they 
worked so hard on garners a 
sigh of relief and positive reflec-
tion.
“Throughout the whole trial, 
the theme has resonated with 
all of us just how historic this 
time is, and years from now 
we’re all going to look back 
and remember the impact we 
had on curbing the pandemic,
” 
Zenlea said. “Everyone was just 
very grateful and very excited 
to see all their hard work, their 
grit, their sacrifices and long 
hours come to fruition.
”
With her first-hand knowl-
edge on the difference between 
the authorized Moderna and 
Pfizer vaccines, Zenlea says the 
two vaccines use very similar 
technologies.
“There’s really very little dif-
ference between the vaccines,
” 
Zenlea said. “The only true 
difference is the temperature at 
which each vaccine needs to be 
stored. The Pfizer vaccine does 
need to be kept colder than the 
Moderna, but that doesn’t real-
ly impact the receiver all that 
much.
”
The next step in the process, 

“THIS IS THE FIRST POSITIVE COVID 
NEWS WE’VE HAD IN ALMOST 

NINE MONTHS.”

— BEAUMONT’S DR. JEFFREY FISCHGRUND

COURTESY OF DR. JEFFREY FISCHGRUND

Dr. Jeffrey Fischgrund gives a thumbs-up after receiving the vaccine.

IN 
THE
JEWS D
ON THE COVER

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