Frances Proto (left) and her daughter Nichole
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Mother and daughter Frances and Nichole Proto do a lot of things together. On Jan. 6 they rolled up their sleeves and offered their arms at the same time to receive the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Frances, a registered nurse who worked on various units at both campuses for more than 40 years, currently works at NEMG in Trumbull. Nichole is a patient care associate on SP 6-4 and is studying to become a nurse – the third generation in her family to do so. Her grandmother Frances Gilchrist was a nurse at the former Hospital of Saint Raphael for nearly five decades. Both say their family ties are a large part of the reason they got vaccinated.
“Nichole and I don’t want to get sick, but we also don’t want to bring the virus home to our loved ones,” Frances said. “It’s our job to protect them as well as ourselves.”
Nichole said she also feels a duty to protect the patients on her unit. “If we test positive, we expose the patients. We shouldn’t be giving the virus to any of our patients.”
Here are other reasons Yale New Haven employees are choosing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I have several reasons. First, I lost my mom to COVID-19 in April. So many of our patients are immunocompromised, I would hate to be a potential spreader. Getting vaccinated is just the smart thing to do for our patients, coworkers and ourselves." - Robert Fulton, medical lab technician, Smilow Cancer Care Center, Torrington
“I have some underlying health issues, so I look at this like I look at the flu shot: The more protection the better.” - Brian Aranjo (left)
“I got vaccinated to prevent spreading this deadly virus to others. I don’t want to bring it home to my family, my friends or my community.” - Antwan Hailey (center)
“I got vaccinated because I’m concerned about getting COVID. We work around it every day. Getting vaccinated is just the right thing to do.” - Quinn Smith (right) Saint Raphael Campus Environmental Services
“I just got my second vaccine last week, and I haven’t had any issues. The first one was simple; the second one was simple.” - Kaprice Miller, (left) information associate, Emergency Department
“I got vaccinated because my mom told me to – and to protect myself and everyone around me.” - Alexis Miller, (right) bed management associate, Transfer Facilitators
“I got vaccinated because I don’t want to catch COVID, of course. I also want to be able to travel to Maine to see my family; I haven’t seen them since October.” - Anthony Stewart, receiving assistant, South Pavilion OR
“Modeling the behavior essential for change and hope is a fundamental aspect of clinical social work care. I feel so privileged to be able to serve in this way to crush COVID-19!” - Dawn Lorentson, LCSW, YNHH
“We all watched, waited, socially distanced, stayed safe in place, stayed masked and cheered on our healthcare heroes this year – this (vaccine) represents to me all that we’ve worked so hard for, a moment of hope and a powerful defense to eradicate COVID from our lives in 2021.”- Katie Bollella, senior administrative associate, Access
