• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • 2023 Town Election
  • Events
  • About us
  • Natick Report
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley vaccinates first responders against COVID-19

January 11, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley’s Health Department, armed with doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, set up shop on Monday at Fire Department Headquarters on Route 9 to vaccinate first responders.

First up were firefighters Joanie Cullinan and Brian Hester, both of whom have faced serious health situations. Cullinan has recovered from Stage 3 Melanoma and become an effective advocate for occupational cancer awareness. Hester, a firefighter since 2002, became sick with COVID-19 in the spring and did a grand tour of local health facilities over 10 weeks fighting off the respiratory disease. Feeling lucky to be at the vaccine clinic, Hester said he is still dealing with after-effects from COVID-19 but hopes to return to work sooner than later.

ff vaccines wellesley
Firefighter Brian Hester keeps his eye on the needle

 

ff vaccines wellesley
Firefighter Joanie Cullinan gives a double thumbs up after getting her vaccination

 

This was no private doctor’s office visit. The firefighters, in familiar surroundings at the firehouse, received their vaccinations with bemused expressions as camera crews from local TV news stations captured the whole thing for posterity.

Hester said getting the shot was no problem. “I didn’t feel a thing,” he quipped.

#Wellesley vaccinates first responders against #COVID19 https://t.co/AZ9HcGiz19 #vaccines @moderna_tx @WellesleyFire pic.twitter.com/y0ib8yEqA1

— swellesley (@swellesley) January 12, 2021

Cullinan is still going in for screenings in the aftermath of her cancer treatments, but is back to work and feeling strong. She refers to herself as “a professional patient at this point,” and says getting the vaccine made this a good day, allowing firefighters “to protect our families and keep everyone else safe.”

When asked for her message to other first responders about getting the vaccine, she said “everybody’s got to do what’s right for them,” but that it was the right choice for her, her family, and colleagues. Naturally, some of those colleagues headed out on a call when we were there, sirens blaring upon their departure.

Three other Wellesley firefighters and five Wellesley police officers were also vaccinated, with more set to receive shots later this week.

ff vaccines wellesley

Health Department Director Lenny Izzo, who was on site, said “we’re prepared, we’re ready for this.” He and the rest of the staff have spent recent weeks working out the various challenges that the town faces in administering the vaccine, including the transport and cold storage of it, as well as scheduling injections.  While much has been made of storage challenges, he says the town has had no issue handling that end of things.

Izzo told us during a recent interview that vaccines will be dispensed in a staggered process, to ensure that not too many first responders could potentially suffer bad reactions at once.

For this first round, health officials received 100 vials of the Moderna vaccine and expect another allocation within a week to complete the first responder vaccinations.  Ann Marie McCauley, the town’s public health nurse supervisor, said during Monday’s Board of Health meeting that the Health Department plans to use every drop of vaccine during six clinics over the course of this week, and still won’t have enough for all first responders.

First responders, along with healthcare workers and those in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are among those designated by the state to be vaccinated at the start.

ff vaccines wellesley
Wellesley Health Department nurses, from left, Ashley Denton and Heidi Harper.
ff vaccines wellesley
We were running with the big media dawgs, who came out from locations as exotic as Boston to be on hand for the Wellesley first-responder vaccination event.

  • Thank you Swellesley Report supporters & on to Year Sweet 16
print

Filed Under: COVID-19, Fire, Health

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
EXPLO, Wellesley
Wellesley Hills Junior Women's Club

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Letters to the editor on The Swellesley Report
  • Voting rights expert to give talk at Wellesley College
  • Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • Wellesley business buzz: La Toscana's, Express Gourmet to serve alcohol; Where the town banks (not SVB!)

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

Mar 23
9:00 am - 10:30 pm

Select Board office hours

Mar 23
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Wellesley Neighbors information session

Mar 23
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Babson Arts presents “The Forgotten Kingdom”

Mar 25
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

Mar 26
10:00 am - 10:30 am

6th annual “Plunge for Elodie”

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 2023 Boston Marathon charity runners
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Mike on Time is right for new owners of Wellesley’s Coconut Thai Cafe
  • Ken on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • J covino on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • LADY WELLESLEY on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • Michali Lerner on Wellesley High School hosting standards-based grading discussion

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (13)
  • Animals (429)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (596)
  • Beyond Wellesley (53)
  • Books (380)
  • Business (1,568)
  • Camp (12)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (241)
  • Construction (301)
  • Dump (131)
  • Education (3,219)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (37)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (48)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (47)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (615)
    • Wellesley High School (1,008)
    • Wellesley Middle School (208)
  • Embracing diversity (97)
  • Entertainment (823)
  • Environment (779)
  • Fashion (145)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (174)
  • Food (360)
  • Fundraising (650)
  • Gardens (165)
  • Government (625)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (870)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (403)
  • Holidays (442)
  • Houses (164)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (869)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (89)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (584)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (282)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (658)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (786)
    • Crime (398)
  • Politics (560)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (7)
  • Real estate (348)
  • Religion (139)
  • Restaurants (345)
  • Safety (156)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (128)
  • Shopping (164)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,024)
    • Athlete of the Week (14)
  • STEM (109)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (26)
  • Transportation (242)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,245)
  • Volunteering (351)
  • Weather (180)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (282)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login