Photo by Scott McCloskey – Wheeling Hospital announced that the hospital itself was at 75 percent capacity and the intensive care unit at 72 percent capacity, with the COVID-19 pandemic partially to blame.

Wheeling Hospital announced Monday that it will begin vaccinating its front-line staff for COVID-19 beginning Tuesday morning. Hospital assistant vice-president Tony Martinelli said hospital workers were driving to Morgantown on Monday to pick up the vaccine.

“Our staff has done a great job combatting this pandemic for the past nine months,” he said. “We were extremely excited to begin vaccine rollout in order to keep them protected.”

The shots are being administered on a tier system, and criteria include the amount of direct patient care, the units involved, areas with high exposure risk, critical functions to the hospital and groups with risk for staffing shortages. All vaccinations are on a voluntary basis.

The FDA approved the Pfizer version of the vaccine Friday night. The Moderna vaccine is projected to be approved soon, with shipments to arrive periodically afterward.

“We hope to have our staff vaccinations to be completed by mid to late January,” Martinelli said.

Neither the hospital nor its physicians will be providing vaccines to the general public at this time. Hospital employees working in Ohio will be vaccinated through the Ohio vaccine distribution protocol.