Cardinal DiNardo joins St. Dominic Village staff, residents in getting COVID-19 vaccine
January 26, 2021
At left, Robbie Bradford, director of nursing at St. Dominic Village, receives his vaccine Dec. 29, 2020. At right, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo receives his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at St. Joseph Medical Center in downtown Houston on Jan. 12. (Photo courtesy of St. Joseph Medical Center and St. Dominic Village)
HOUSTON — Beneath an icon of Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, and sitting next to a brilliant statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Dominic Village (SDV) front-line workers received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 29, 2020.
Amy Shields, CEO of SDV, and Robbie Bradford, SDV’s director of nursing who is seen at left, led by example and received the vaccine. With CVS Clinic, the vaccine was distributed to SDV staff, nursing center residents and assisted living residents.
A little over two weeks later, with a smile and a thumbs-up, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 12 as a member of the 1B group at St. Joseph Medical Center in downtown Houston.
According to St. Joseph’s Medical Center, COVID-19 vaccines were available in Houston for individuals who meet the state’s criteria for 1A or 1B groups which included front-line health care workers, people 65 and older and people 16 and older with health conditions that increase risk of severe COVID-19 illness.
At the 2020 White Mass, in his homily, Cardinal DiNardo said: “In this difficult, terrible time of COVID-19,” the efforts of healthcare workers have “been so intense, draining.”
Encouraging their heroic efforts, Cardinal DiNardo said their “response is incredible and magnificent.” He also reminded them that, even “in the harshest and most difficult of circumstances,” to always see the “image of God” in their patients.
For information about vaccine distribution in Houston, visit www.HoustonEmergency.org/COVID19.