DC Acting Chief, FFs Tapped for Vaccine to Build Public Trust

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Five Washington, D.C., firefighters and first responders will be among the first people in the District to receive the COVID-19 vaccine this week.

The first vaccinations will be distributed to acting D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly—one of the first members of the department to contract the virus—and three other firefighters in an effort to building public confidence in both the medical science and the system, according to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser's office. Dr. Robert Holman, the department's medical director, also will be in the initial push to receive the vaccine.

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“The First Five are sending a strong message about the importance of this vaccine,” Bowser said in a statement. “Our frontline health care workers and emergency responders have led our community through this pandemic with courage and compassion, and now we are proud to deliver this vaccine to them.”

The District is expected to begin receiving vaccine shipments Monday. But the five D.C. Fire and EMS members probably won't see receive their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine until later this week.

LaToya Foster, a spokeswoman for Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, told the Washington Post that the fire department members were chosen because they agreed to be vaccinated on camera and talk about their experience. Along with Donnelly and Holman, the other D.C. firefighters include Lt. Keishea Jackson, who is part of the department's homeland security division; Lt. Joseph Papariello at Engine Co. 23 in Foggy Bottom; and firefighter-EMT Julio Quinteros at Engine Co. 6 in Shaw. 

“My father is everything to me, he’s my world. And if I don’t get it for any other reason, I have to get it for my daddy. I have to make sure he’s safe," Jackson said in a statement. “I’m getting vaccinated for my city. In the last nine months, I’ve seen COVID devastate my department. I’ve seen my brothers and sisters go into the hospital. I’ve seen them with severe symptoms—things we never thought we would see. I’m getting vaccinated for my coworkers, I’m getting vaccinated for my family, and I’m getting vaccinated to make a change.”

The department isn't making the vaccine mandatory, but officials emphasize that it's the best next step to keep its members and the public safe from the virus.

“The vaccine is a game changer for this Department and its members, who selflessly give of themselves to the hundreds of patients who call on them to help each day,” Holman said in a statement. “The best strategy for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic is through widespread vaccination, and we believe getting vaccinated will not only protect our members, but those we treat and compassionately care for every day.”

“I am so proud of the work and dedication our members have displayed over the last nine months,” Donnelly added. “We have all been through a lot, and they each deserve to be one of the first in the District to get this vaccine.”

Earlier this month, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advisers recommended including health care workers and long-term care facility residents in the 1a priority group for a COVID-19 vaccine. But the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Association of State Fire Marshals and the National Volunteer Fire Council have been urging governors and state health officials to include firefighters, EMS workers and other first responders in the 1a group, too.