The PennZone

HAVERHILL, Mass. - PennZone -- Here's what you need to know.

At Whittier Health Network, we are dedicated to the well-being of our patients, residents, and staff, and we care for them just like family. That's why we are making sure the COVID-19 vaccine will be available at all of our facilities now that it is approved by the FDA and is currently being distributed.

We will hold a "vaccine clinic" throughout the Whittier Health Network beginning the last week of December. We urge our employees to sign up—for their safety and for the protection of their families and those they care for here at Whittier.

Our Medical staff will be taking the vaccine including our Medical Directors, Dr. Paul Liguori, MD, MRM at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital Bradford and Dr. John V. Turchetta at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital Westborough. Senior management at Whittier will also receive the vaccine to show leadership to staff and to show that the vaccine is safe.

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The vaccine will be distributed at the Skilled Nursing Facilities, through a partnership with CVS, on a schedule beginning December 29th, and at our Transitional Care Units starting January 4th. Our excellent healthcare staff, patients, and residents take priority and will receive the vaccines first.

A 90% or more adoption rate will significantly reduce outbreaks within each facility. The goal is 100%. It will take many resources to accomplish, but we're up to the task of keeping our family safe.

We also plan to implement CVS's VSafe app, a smartphone-based post-vaccination application that will allow those who have been vaccinated to sign up for monitoring post-vaccine statuses going forward. VSafe incorporates text messages and web surveys and relays information back to the CDC about how those who have been vaccinated are doing post-vaccine.

Visit our blog, where Dr. Paul Liguori at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital Bradford, explains the vaccine process and how it works within your body: https://hubs.ly/H0CM8cN0.

For more information from the Centers for Disease Control, visit http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html.

We look forward to the vaccine helping to protect the well-being of our employees, residents and patients.