Are you ready to make the choice? Medical staff at Northwestern Medicine receive second dose of Moderna vaccine

Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital Plant Operations Manager Mike Bentley is receiving his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

HUNTLEY – First dose?

Second dose?

Maderna vaccine for COVID-19.

Mary Schneider, Michael Postelnick, and Mike Bentley never hesitated in scheduling or receiving their first dose of Moderna vaccine or their second dose about 30 days later.

Schneider is an oncology nurse at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital. Postelnick is an infectious disease and antimicrobial pharmacist at Northwestern Medicine Hospitals in Huntley, McHenry and Woodstock.  Bentley is manager of plant operations at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital.

Schneider, Postelnick, and Bentley agreed to an interview to give their personal story of receiving the primary dose and booster dose, their reasons for getting the vaccine, and what they’ve seen and learned about COVID-19 from their vantage point in their position at Northwestern Medicine.

Schneider has lost two of her aunts to COVID-19.  One aunt had lived in a nursing home while the other did not.

“It’s personal, it’s real, it’s affecting our community and I think some people don’t realize COVID-19 is touching us all,” Schneider said.

She believes strongly the way we can help others is by going ahead and taking the vaccine and decreasing the amount of virus.

At Northwestern Medicine, Huntley Hospital, Schneider received a second dose of the Moderna vaccine and told of her post vaccine symptoms.  She admitted to fatigue but indicated it didn’t last long. Schneider believed this was reassurance her immune system was working.

“Hey, I recognize you, you’re trouble, let’s make sure I have a good defense against it,” Schneider explained.

Through observation on her part, Schneider saw many families doing their absolute best to stay safe and someone still gets COVID-19.

“So for me, this is the hope that if we get enough people to vaccinate, we will start to see our numbers drop and people won’t get as sick as they have been.  If we can get enough people to vaccinate, we won’t let the virus change and mutate, but we have to get enough people onboard and vaccinated,” Schneider said.

Schneider had spent a considerable amount of time isolating herself because she deals with a very vulnerable population.

“Even when I am not at work, I have to honor that they are at risk. So I’ve stayed away from people, I’ve not gone out to dinner, I haven’t seen my father in a year,” she said.

Postelnick has worked for Northwestern Medicine in Chicago for the past 32 years and in the McHenry County area for a year now. He makes sure antibiotics are used appropriately for patients, a regulatory requirement for hospitals to have an antimicrobial stewardship program.  Postelnick received the second dose of Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 recently and recalls his arm was sore for 24 hours and he had a bit of fogginess.  As to any apprehension over the vaccine, Postelnick is a proponent of vaccinations.

“I’ve been involved with the pandemic since it started and I’ve seen what happens in the ICU’s and I see how people basically suffocate because their lungs are destroyed. It’s painful to see people not take it seriously and not understand how devastating this can be and that’s why the sooner you get vaccinated the better,” Postelnick said.

As facilities manager of Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital, Bentley manages a team of ten people maintaining the entire hospital facility. The team handles and maintains the fire system, lighting, showers, beds, air handlers, exhaust fans, all creature comforts, and climate and safety controls. In the event of a pandemic such as COVID-19, Bentley explained that Huntley Hospital has a unique function in isolation mode where one whole wing on a floor can be taken and placed in isolation mode.

“This basically creates a negative air draft that way the hospital is evacuating all of the bad germs and bacteria out of it to help keep all of the employees and visitors safe,” Bentley said.

Bentley wanted to be proactive by getting both doses of the Moderna vaccine despite hearing from some of his friends that he must be crazy to get the shots. “I want to be part of the solution and I don’t want to jeopardize the safety of anyone or myself because my mom has a really weak immune system and eventually I’d like to go visit her. I don’t want to cross-contaminate my mother or anyone else should I pick it up,” Bentley said.