Celebrating 100 days of COVID-19 vaccines

Special education teacher Jim Armstrong feels hopeful he’ll be able to meet with his students in person again soon.

Ninety-five-year-old Edna Derrick now feels much more comfortable going to the grocery store, seeing her friends, and talking to her neighbors. Soon, she’ll visit a restaurant again after months of avoiding them.

Kaiser Permanente intensive care unit nurse Helen Cordova looks forward to seeing families come into the hospital again once patient-only rules, put in place to prevent COVID-19 spread, lift.

In early March, we marked a somber milestone — the one-year anniversary of the pandemic — but today, we celebrate 100 days of life with COVID-19 vaccines. On December 14, 2020, doses of the first vaccine authorized by the Food and Drug Administration went into arms across the nation. Cordova was the first person at Kaiser Permanente and the first person in California to receive the vaccine.

As of mid-March, we have 3 authorized vaccines, and Kaiser Permanente has administered more than 2.5 million doses in our facilities as well as hundreds of thousands of doses at mass vaccination sites in several states. We’ve advocated for equity in vaccine rollouts. We’ve helped educate our members and our communities about COVID-19 and the vaccines. And, every day, our care teams are working hard to ensure the people in our communities have a safe, positive vaccination experience.

As we reflect on 100 days of administering vaccinations and look to a brighter future, the true thanks goes to each person taking steps to help end this pandemic. As more people get vaccinated, we can begin to see light at the end of the tunnel, but we can’t let our guard down just yet.

Getting vaccinated when it’s your turn and continuing to wear a mask, wash your hands, and avoid crowds — even after you’re vaccinated — will help all of us get back to so many of the things we haven’t been able to do over the past year.

For the latest information on vaccine eligibility and how to get vaccinated when you’re eligible, visit kp.org/covidvaccine or call the KP COVID Vaccine InfoLine at 1-855-550-0951.