COVID-19 positivity rate stays above 7%; vaccinations continue across North Fork

The Suffolk Times
Riverhead News-Review

Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital received its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine Monday.

The Greenport facility was the first, last March, to diagnose a COVID-19 patient in Suffolk County.

“Last March and into the spring it was pretty bad for us,” said Dr. Lawrence Schiff, chief of the emergency department and the second person to receive the vaccine at the hospital, where he has worked since 2003. “We had that first patient and we worked with him and sent him off to Southampton Hospital. Happily he survived.”

Dr. Schiff said he and his staff are certain a second wave is about to hit the facility and, with critical staff receiving the vaccine, he feels they are better prepared for it.

Photo Caption: Lawrence R. Schiff, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, Chief, Emergency Department, SBELIH, prepares to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, administered by Angela Avvento, RN, Employee Health Coordinator, Nursing Administration, SBELIH