World War II veteran in Bedford is first VA patient in country to get COVID-19 vaccine
Margaret Klessens, 96, was one of the first people in Massachusetts to get the shot.
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A 96-year-old woman in Bedford is the first VA patient nationwide to get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the VA Bedford Healthcare System.
Margaret Klessens got the shot at the Community Living Center in the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital just past noon Monday, the VA Bedford Healthcare System and Department of Veterans Affairs secretary Robert Wilkie announced.
Margaret Klessens, a WWII veteran and a patient with Bedford’s VA Health Care System, became the first VA patient in the country to receive the #COVID19MA vaccine today.
Thank you for your service, Margaret. We look forward to more vaccinations across MA this week and beyond. https://t.co/k4eTRUmlXI
— Charlie Baker (@MAGovArchive) December 14, 2020
.@DeptVetAffairs administered our first COVID vaccine at @VABedfordHCS to 96 year old World War II Veteran Margaret Klessens, a community living center resident. We look forward to quickly administering more vaccinations across VA to protect more #Veterans. #COVIDvaccine pic.twitter.com/4GbT4BfQ02
— Secretary Robert Wilkie (@SecWilkie) December 14, 2020
The former resident of Charlestown and Somerville enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, according to a 2015 Boston Globe article. She went through basic training and held a clerical job in Georgia until the end of the war.
Veterans Affairs announced last week that the Bedford center would be one of 37 nationwide to receive the first rollout of the vaccine for residents and health care workers. The sites were chosen “for their ability to vaccinate large numbers of people and store the vaccines at extremely cold temperatures,” the organization said.
Guess what came in the mail today! Yup – that’s it….the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer. First healthcare worker vaccinations planned for this afternoon! Have questions: https://t.co/MkT0KgSg7J #BeProudBeBedford #Veteran #COVID19Vaccine pic.twitter.com/srBsoJwSLd
— VA Bedford Healthcare System 🩺 (@VABedfordHCS) December 14, 2020
Andrew Miller, a housekeeper in the Environmental Management Service, is the first employee at VA Bedford to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, at 12:20 p.m., Dec. 14, 2020. #MakingHistory pic.twitter.com/EfwIJ0OTox
— VA Bedford Healthcare System 🩺 (@VABedfordHCS) December 14, 2020
Massachusetts, along with much of the country, received initial batches of the newly-approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday. Boston Medical Center got nearly 2,000 doses in its first delivery, and most other hospitals in the state are expecting deliveries this week.
Monday kicked off the start of Phase 1 of the vaccine rollout in the Commonwealth, which is expected to last through February. Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration said last week that the initial priority for the first shipments will be for front-line health care workers, and residents and staff in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Others in Phase 1 include first responders, those in congregate care settings like homeless shelters and prisons, and other healthcare workers.
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