Belleville Memorial doctor to be among the first in southwest IL to receive vaccine
A doctor who has been on the front lines battling COVID-19 will be among the first in southwestern Illinois to receive the vaccine.
Dr. Omer Badahman, an infectious disease physician at Memorial Hospital Belleville, is expected to get his shot on Friday, possibly the first at the hospital, according to spokeswoman Kendra Whittle. He could also be the first in the metro-east.
The doctor has worked long days figuring out the best way to treat patients since March when he saw his first coronavirus patients.
The pandemic has claimed nearly 800 lives in the metro-east and continues to take lives daily. Badahman shouldered the stress day after day, as did his colleagues through the uncertain early days to late this summer when hospitalizations skyrocketed a second time.
After months of exhaustion, the arrival of a vaccine is welcomed good news, Badahman said.
“We’re beginning to see the cavalry coming in,” he said.
The first vaccinations in Illinois took place Tuesday morning for health care workers at Loretto Hospital on the west side of Chicago and at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
Badahman’s willingness to be the first in his community to take the vaccine is a testament to his confidence in its safety and efficacy, he said.
“I am looking forward to the time where we leave this pandemic behind us,” Badahman said. “That will be the best thing that could happen to our community, to our state and our nation.”
Reliable information about the vaccine can be found online from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, local health departments and from physicians or health care experts, Badahman said.
“I worry more about misinformation and chatter that’s out there misinforming the public more than anything else,” he added. “If you really are not sure, go to the right source to look for (information about) safety from the data.”
Health care workers who are vaccinated in this first wave will still need to take the same precautions they did before to prevent spreading the disease, Badahman said, but it gives them peace of mind that they are less likely to become sick when treating COVID-19 patients.
As vaccines become available to the public, they “may start pushing down this pandemic,” even if they’re only effective for three to four months, Badahman said. It’s not yet clear how long the effects of the vaccine will prevent illness, but more information will become available as scientists gather data from those who are vaccinated.
On Tuesday, the state began packaging and shipping the first 109,000 doses to hospitals throughout the state. Direct shipments from the federal government are also expected this week in St. Clair and Madison counties.
Illinois public health officials announced 7,123 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, including 146 additional deaths, for a total of 870,600 cases and 14,655 deaths since the pandemic began.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 3:14 PM.
