Aboard the ‘Sea Queen.’ L-R J. Zavodny, D. Cornman, K. Cheney, M. Giffin, S. Daley.
Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley, RN.
At the clinic.
Completing paperwork. Waiting patiently for the vaccine.
The Mission medical team and MPB reporter Patty Wight traveling between islands aboard a lobster boat.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME – The Mission Covid-19 vaccination clinic team heads out on March 19th morning aboard the mailboat, Sea Queen, for clinics on Great Cranberry island and Islesford.
The Maine CDC gave permission for the Mission Covid vaccination medical team to administer vaccines to island residents 18-years old and up on Great Cranberry and Islesford. The CDC’s decision was a huge nod to efficiency and common sense. Registering island residents, and then transporting the medical team with vaccines to them, is tricky under the best circumstances. So once the team is in place — on an island community center, or a ladies club — why not vaccinate as many people as possible?
Mother Nature decided to rough up an otherwise smooth plan for these clinics by delivering winds heavy enough to make traveling aboard the 74-foot Sunbeam out of the question. If you think of a tractor trailer rolling across a flatland meeting a strong crosswind, you get a sense of how wind can prevent the Sunbeam from easing into a dock, or staying tied to a dock.
So this trip, on March 19, the medical team traveled aboard the much more wind-friendly mail boat that travels between Northeast Harbor and Great Cranberry Island. The team consisted of Sharon Daley (Lead Nurse), Maureen Giffin (Nurse), Douglas Cornman (ImmPact Recorder), John Zavodny (Registrar), Kathy Cheney (Monitor), and Katelyn Damon.
The team was joined by Maine Public Radio’s Patty Wight, who reported on the trip on March 26, 2021.
Forty-four islanders received Covid-19 vaccinations this day. As teacher Lauren Gray told MPB’s Patty Wight, ““It just feels like there’s a light. Even in our small community, we haven’t been gathering indoors. Out here on the island that makes such a big difference in getting through the winter, is being able to go to people’s houses and share a meal on this rock that’s three miles out.”
CHERRYFIELD, ME — The Mission Covid-19 vaccination trips aboard the Sunbeam have a unique hum of excitement. It is my honor to witness it from my little spot in the galley while trying to offer a little nourishment to the hardworking vaccination crew.
A little white cooler with a bright red lid transports among locations the cherished vials of Moderna vaccine. Everything is centered around this cooler. Handled with deference one would give bone china or an organ meant for transplant, the cooler is whisked through the Sunbeam salon, to-and-from Sharon’s boat office. There vaccine vials are stored in a special medical fridge with its sensors and record keeping.
While we are underway, the vaccination crew is often huddled, socially distant, double and triple checking numbers: vaccinations available, people signed up, ages, dates and appointment times. Because of time constraints with vaccine transportation, our travel time between islands is also a factor.
The vaccination crew make a lot of phone calls to coordinate it all. They make even more phone calls when the weather or vaccine availability sets up a speed bump.
I’ve seen Mission president, John Zavodny, preparing stacks of vaccination cards given to people once they’ve had their shots.
After an island clinic, Douglas Cornman returns to the Sunbeam with a stack of vaccination forms with information he needs to enter into the national database.
Nurses Sharon Daley and Maureen Giffin wear many separate pairs of blue gloves. They schlep their totes of medical supplies island to island for the pop-up clinics. Their totes are inventoried and replenished often. One tote is clear and holds – among other things – a big round clock that is an indispensable tool for the fifteen-minute wait everyone has after their inoculation.
People are grateful to be vaccinated. They laugh, cry, and dance. They love the “I’ve been vaccinated” stickers. One gentleman who had his first shot was wearing a t-shirt that said simply “vaccinated”. He was all smiles!
Directors Douglas Cornman & Sharon Daley with Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
Directors Douglas Cornman & Sharon Daley on Great Cranberry island.
Great Cranberry residents waiting for vaccines
NORTHEAST HARBOR — The Mission’s second Covid-19 vaccination clinic trip (Feb. 26-27) relied on the Sunbeam for travel, accommodations, and vaccine safekeeping.
The day began at the Sunbeam‘s berth in Northeast Harbor where the Clinic Team met local tv news multimedia journalists from WABI, Newscenter 6, and WVII to answer questions about the island Covid vaccination clinics.
Photographer Erin Clark, who also traveled with group, captured the clinics in pictures for a piece in the Boston Globe. Ms. Clark tested negative for Covid as a safety precaution.
The two-day trip reached communities on four islands. The first day registered residents were vaccinated on Great Cranberry at the Ladies Aid Community Center, Islesford at Neighborhood House, and Frenchboro inside the Town Office.
The Sunbeam, crew, and medical team then traveled two hours that day to Isle au Haut, overnighted aboard the boat, and held an Isle au Haut vaccination clinic before traveling back to Northeast Harbor the next day.
The Clinic Team for these islands was:
Sharon Daley R.N., Mission Director of Island Health Services (lead nurse)
Maureen Giffin R.N. (visiting nurse)
Douglas Cornman, Mission Director of Island Outreach (The Maine Immunization Information System [ImmPact] vaccination database recorder)
John Zavodny, Mission President (vaccination registrar)
The Sunbeam crew was Mike Johnson (captain), Storey King (engineer), and Jillian (Steward). Directors Daley and Cornman are also Sunbeam crew members.
In total, 75 people were vaccinated at the four clinics.
(L-R Mission President John Zavodny, Director of Island Outreach Douglas Cornman, Monitor Kathy Cheney, Nurse Maureen Giffin, and Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley, RN.)
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME – The Mission Covid-19 vaccination clinic team heads out this morning aboard the mailboat, Sea Queen, for clinics on Great Cranberry island and Islesford.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — On the March 3, 2021 Covid-19 vaccination clinic for Monhegan Island residents, Maine Seacoast Mission President Zavodny helped with registrations, took notes and photos. He also captured the flavor of the clinic in this short, self-narrated video.
It’s Thank you Thursday. Today’s shout out of Mission love goes to nurses Maureen Giffin and Peggy Akers, who have joined Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley – also a nurse – in administering Covid-19 vaccinations to people in our island communities.
“What a pleasure and honor it is to work with two amazing dedicated nurses doing the island Covid Vaccine clinics on the islands,” said Sharon Daley. “There is no way I could do it without them. I’ve called and asked them, “Can you work this day?’, only to call back and changed the day due to vaccine not coming in. Still, their answer is always yes.
“I have called them with numerous questions,” Sharon continued. “Without fail they help me find the answers. Maureen and Peggy have been adaptable to climbing down ladders onto boats, flying on little planes when the wind is howling, and anything else they need to do.
“Most of all,” said Sharon, “they treat each person they meet with care and respect. I am honored to work beside them and call them friends.”
