Guyanese-born nurse administers COVID-19 vaccine to VP-elect
By Tangerine Clarke
Guyanese-born Registered
Nurse, Patricia Cummings who
has been working at United Medical
Center in Washington DC,
for 15 years on Tuesday, Dec. 29,
2020, had the opportunity of a
lifetime to administer the Moderna
COVID-19 vaccine to US Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris,
as America looked on.
Born in the mining town of
Bartica in the Essequibo region,
clinical nurse manager, Cummings,
who left Guyana with
her parents at age 10, expressed
via a zoom interview in Guyana,
how grateful and blessed she felt
that of all the millions of female
nurses in the country, she was
chosen.
The front line worker who,
before injecting the vaccine told
VP Harris, she would have to
sanitize, her arm, and asked if
that was okay, as heard on a CNN
video.
Harris in return said yes, and
after being inoculated against
coronavirus, giggled, tapped
Cummings’ arm, and said “that
was easy. Thank you. I barely
felt it.”
“I want to encourage everyone
to get the vaccine. It is relatively
painless. It happens really quickly,
and it is safe,” said VP-elect
Harris.
“It’s literally about saving
lives. I trust the scientists. And it
is the scientists who created and
approved this vaccine. So I urge
everyone, when it is your turn,
get vaccinated,” she insisted.
This is a moment, Cummings,
who lived six years in St. Lucia
with her parents, before migrating
to the United States in 2000,
will cherish, for the rest of her
life.“
I am proud to represent our
country, Guyana,” she said during
the interview. “I being chosen
was especially meaningful
to me. I am honored, and I don’t
take this for granted. We have
the same things in common,”
she said of Harris. “We both have
immigrant parents, (Harris’
mother is deceased), and she is a
powerful black woman. I admire
her leadership and qualities.”
“It is amazing. I never thought
in a million years I would have
had this opportunity, but once
I received the call, I jumped on
it. I was admittedly nervous, but
I never second-guessed it,” she
explained.
Cummings’ 15 years as a registered
OWN IN ONE OF FLORIDA’S PRIME
REAL ESTATE MARKET!
WITH NO CREDIT CHECK!
Call Naida for more details:
917.292.5871
Caribbean L 16 ife, JANUARY 8-14, 2021
nurse spanned different
aspects of nursing and leadership.
“I love what I do and I am
honored to have been chosen to
administer the vaccine to Madam
Vice President (elect) Kamala
Harris,” said the medical professional,
noting that she needed to
do some research, which she did,
before taking the Pfizer vaccine
herself.
Her research found that both
the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines
were effective. Cummings said
she will be taking her second
dose of the Pfizer vaccine in a
few weeks.
“Over two million people in
American already had the vaccine.
I had no side effects from
the vaccine. To my fellow Guyanese,
educate yourself, do not
speak ignorantly, or speak on
hearsay. Do not speak on one or
two accounts. Do the research,”
she insisted.
“I am a living witness to the
vaccine,” she said, and shared
that she visits her family members
in Guyana as much as possible.
“I would love them (her family)
to take the vaccine if it is
available. I encourage you to do
the same,” she told her listening
audience.
“The COVID-19 is not going
away for a long time. It is in my
lifetime, the most traumatic and
devastating thing that has happened,
and if we have a solution
in the form of a vaccine to get
closer to stopping it, I recommend
that you take part in that,”
she said.
“Persons in Guyana, please
adhere to the guidelines. Wearing
your masks saves lives,
socially distancing saves lives,
washing and sanitizing hands do
work and saves lives,” Cummings
insisted.
She assured Guyanese youth
that, “the evidence is there, I am
a front line worker, nurse manager,
but I am still very much
involved with direct patient care
with my staff, and I have seen the
damages, and what non-adherent
causes,” reiterating, “adhere
to the safety measures.”
Registered Nurse Patricia Cummings gives U.S. Vice President
elect Kamala Harris a dose of the Moderna COVID-19
vaccine at United Medical Center in Washington, U.S., Dec.
29, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
You can start with our Company’s
Unique Pre-Plan Housing Program:
$3,000 down & low $200s/mo
Florida Connect Realty
95-27 Jamaica ave. Jamaica, NY 11418
The Law Offices of
Georgia E. McCarthy
902 East 86 Street, Brooklyn NY 11236
CONTESTED/UNCONTESTED DIVORCES
Aggressive Representation in Supreme Court
and Family Court
FAMILY LAW
CHILD SUPPORT, CUSTODY, PATERNITY, VISITATION
AND CHILD ABUSE
Protect Your Parental Rights in Family Court
REAL ESTATE
Contracts & Closings, Foreclosures, Basement Ejections
CRIMINAL MATTERS
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
TRUST, WILLS & ESTATES REPRESENTATIONS
Free Consultation*
*The consultation is free if retained
Call 347-587-5458
Fax 347-587-6169
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY