St. Luke’s University Health Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network began giving COVID-19 vaccines to staff members in Lehigh County on Thursday.

The vaccines come as the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 9,966 additional positive cases of COVID-19 Thursday, bringing the statewide total to 529,335.

There are 6,346 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, double the peak in the spring. Of that number, 1,238 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19.

St. Luke’s nurse Sonia Iparraguirre, RN, was the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at St. Luke’s University Health Network Thursday afternoon.

“I am so happy to be part of this momentous step to end the pandemic,” Iparraguirre, of Bethlehem, said. “I want people in our community to know that the vaccine is safe, and that if they want it, they should get it. It protects their health and the health of our community.”

Earlier this year, as St. Luke’s University Health Network began preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic, its dedicated health care workers stepped to the forefront. Iparraguirre, who works on Priscilla Payne Hurd Pavilion 8, was literally on the front line as she admitted the first COVID-19 patient at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Bethlehem.

Iparraguirre was recently honored for her contributions to St. Luke’s pandemic mobilization and her commitment to the health of the community by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Greater Lehigh Valley during its annual gala.

“Sonia is an outstanding example of St. Luke’s commitment to caring for COVID-19 patients and all those we serve in our community,” says Janice Concilio, St. Luke’s COVID-19 Incident Commander.

Lehigh Valley

Front-line workers at Lehigh Valley Health Network received a COVID-19 vaccination Thursday at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.

Chantal Branco, a registered nurse, was the first in the region and a front-line worker to receive the shot authorized by The Food and Drug Administration emergency use recently.

LVHN held a Facebook Live event where Dr. Jody Yozviak, principal investigator for the LVHN trial site and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and Branco spoke.

Yozviak and Branco answered questions about the vaccine and COVID-19.

Branco said she is “humbled and honored” to receive the vaccine.

She talked about her experience treating patients.

“It’s very hard to put what we’ve gone through here into words. Working in critical care you expect to see severe illness, and we’re very fortunate that we were seeing a lot of people get better. Once COVID has hit, these patients are just extraordinary critically ill, and that has really taken its toll on us, I think, as a group. My team is so unbelievably strong and resilient. We work so hard every day. Good days. Bad days. More bad than good, lately. I’m just so incredibly proud of them,” Branco said.

Yozviak reminded people the actions they should take to keep them and their loved ones safe.

“It’s a very difficult time of year to think about the things we need to do to lower the spread of COVID-19 and what we normally do on the holidays.

“What I would really ask everyone is to be mindful of that and recognize that whenever you’re going to be indoors with anyone else you don’t live with, and you’re unmasked, there is the possibility that someone can accidentally spread COVID-19 to another if you don’t have symptoms, or even you’re early in the course of your infection and you don’t know it.”

Vaccinations will continue today at other health locations.