31-year-old Hyderabad-origin doctor face of Chicago’s Covid-19 vaccine roll-out

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad-origin Dr Nikhila Juvvadi was the first to administer the Covid vaccine in Chicago, USA, a day ago. The youngest chief clinical officer in the city, the 31-year-old heads a Covid task force that helped her hospital tackle the pandemic head-on.
Juvvadi works at the Loretto hospital, a 122-bed medical facility in Austin, Chicago. The hospital has faced the brunt of the pandemic, catering to the most vulnerable sections of society including minority groups.The area saw the second-highest number of Covid positive cases in the state of Illinois.

On being the face of the Chicago’s medical care in times of the pandemic, Juvvadi says the hospital wanted to send a message that every section will be catered to equitably through the vaccine roll-out process. “As an Indian-American, I administered the first vaccine and the first recipients belonged to the Asian-American, African-American and Latin American sections of the community." She likens Loretto Hospital to the Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad that provides affordable healthcare to the weakest sections.
Born in Chicago, Juvvadi attended Nasr School, finished her intermediate from Kakatiya Junior College and graduated from Bhaskar Medical College.
As the chief clinical officer, she says the hospital is ensuring an elaborate protocol is in place to ensure safety. “From police escorting the vaccines to the hospital, designating who will touch them and deciding patient priority, the entire project is a large and challenging one," she says. As per guidelines, hospital healthcare workers are the first to get the vaccine, including those in the emergency and critical care departments, this is followed by other staff such as cleaners and those serving food. Among medical staff, patients and workers at the nursing home will be given the dose last. In all categories, those over 65 years are prioritised.
With the roll-out at a very nascent stage, Juvvadi says apprehensions regarding the vaccine itself have been hard to address. “I assure every patient that we have gone through the data and there is only a 0.5% chance of side effects,” she said.