{"id":36760,"date":"2020-12-17T08:06:12","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T15:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=36760"},"modified":"2021-01-21T09:16:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T16:16:10","slug":"why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\/","title":{"rendered":"Long and poignant journey to a safe COVID-19 vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_36773\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36773\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36773\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15141642\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Why COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Dr. Richard Zane smiles outsie the Emergency Department at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital\" width=\"800\" height=\"522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15141642\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny.webp 800w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15141642\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny-300x196.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15141642\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny-768x501.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15141642\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny-150x98.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15141642\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny-200x131.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36773\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane has been fighting COVID-19 all year and was thrilled when vaccines arrived this week. He&#8217;s confident they are safe and said we are all experiencing an incredible moment in history. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The moment when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/richard-zane-md-emergency-medicine\/\">Dr. Richard Zane<\/a> received a new COVID-19 vaccine became one of the most memorable of his career and an experience that all of his professional accomplishments have prepared him to fully appreciate.<\/p>\n<p><strong><div class=\"su-callout-box col-xs-12 col-sm-6 right\" style=\"background-color:#dce4e7; color:#2e3b44;\"><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why Dr. Richard Zane is confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>They have been successfully tested in Phase 3 trials on tens of thousands of people.<\/li>\n<li>Independent scientists have reviewed the trial results to make sure vaccines are safe.<\/li>\n<li>The side-effects are minor and, for most people, easy to handle. They can include soreness in the arm, just like when you get a flu shot. Some people also might have some body aches and a low fever, particularly after the second booster dose. But these side-effects are not even comparable to a COVID-19 infection, Zane said.<\/li>\n<li>The vaccine manufacturers and federal health authorities took the necessary time to test and review the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. Normally, it takes years for vaccines to get approved, but that\u2019s because the steps are usually spread out over time. In this case, vaccine makers conducted full clinical trials, while simultaneously manufacturing doses and preparing to deliver them.<\/li>\n<li>These vaccines are a new type, but they are safe, and similar to vaccines that have been in development for about 20 years. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use what is called messenger RNA or mRNA to deliver instructions to the muscle cells in our arm to start producing a protein which is substantially similar to a protein on the COVID-19 virus \u2013 the spike protein \u2013 which then prompts our bodies to make antibodies for COVID-19. We already have mRNA in our bodies, and soon after the mRNA does its job, it disappears. \u201cIt\u2019s like your own cells become temporary vaccine producers. These vaccines are incredibly cool and will define how we combat future pandemics,\u201d Zane says.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Not only are the vaccines safe. They also are remarkably effective:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Once people receive both doses, the vaccines are about 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections, which is exceptionally high for a vaccine.<\/li>\n<li>The vaccines start protecting people quickly. \u201cWithin five to seven days after the first injection, you will have partial resistance to COVID-19. Within five to seven days after the second shot, it will be about 94-to-95% effective,\u201d Zane said.<\/li>\n<li>If you get COVID-19 after getting your vaccines, which is unlikely, your symptoms will be dramatically less severe, meaning you are far less likely to need medical care.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Even if you get vaccinated, you must continue to:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep being vigilant.<\/li>\n<li>Wear masks in public.<\/li>\n<li>Wash hands and avoid close contact with people outside of your home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><\/div><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the event of our generation. It will be in every history book, every scientific book. The creation of this vaccine will be taught in every medical school class. We are seeing a light at the end of a tunnel,&#8221; said Zane, who is an expert on emergency medicine, emergency preparedness, mass casualty care and health care innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Zane became one of the first medical providers on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-at-university-of-colorado-anschutz-medical-campus\/\">Anschutz Medical Campus<\/a> to receive his vaccine as soon as the first shipments become available this week.<\/p>\n<p>He is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Colorado, executive director of emergency services for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-university-of-colorado-hospital-uch\/\">UCHealth<\/a> and UCHealth\u2019s Chief Innovation Officer.<\/p>\n<p>When Zane\u2019s turn arrived, he gladly held out his arm as medical assistant Shavona Gunn plunged a needle into the muscle on his upper right arm. The two gave a thumbs up together and Zane said it didn&#8217;t hurt a bit. He\u2019s confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe. And he&#8217;s marveling at the moment because it marks both the end of this devastating pandemic and the dawn of a remarkable new era in science.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Rising to challenges all year long<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has caused suffering all year. Like many, Zane has felt the reverberations personally. His mother is Italian and speaks several languages. She met Zane\u2019s father when she worked as his translator in Switzerland back in 1964. They married and Zane was born there and lived until age 7 in Switzerland and northern Italy, where he still has relatives.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from China, Italy was one the first places to suffer most from COVID-19. One of Zane\u2019s Italian aunts already had respiratory problems before the new virus devastated Italy. She became sick in the spring in her hometown of Pavia where she was a retired university math professor. Since hospital beds were scarce throughout northern Italy, she had to be transferred from hospital to hospital and ultimately died on Easter Sunday, April 12. It\u2019s impossible to know if she died from COVID-19 or the collateral damage that the pandemic unleashed.<\/p>\n<p>While Zane is an expert at helping people during medical emergencies, he was powerless to help his \u201cZia Carla,\u201d who died at age 76.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36839\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36839\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36839\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101125\/Needle-shot-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane receives his COVID-19 vaccine.\" width=\"400\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101125\/Needle-shot-tiny.webp 800w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101125\/Needle-shot-tiny-300x203.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101125\/Needle-shot-tiny-768x518.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101125\/Needle-shot-tiny-150x101.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101125\/Needle-shot-tiny-200x135.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36839\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane was thrilled to receive his first dose of a remarkable new COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by Katie McCrimmon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere was nothing we could do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Zane also lost his father this year. His dad received a cancer diagnosis in the summer. \u00a0Zane and his sister brought their parents, Bob and Gilda, from their Florida home to Colorado, where Zane helped his dad get top-notch medical care at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. But the family soon learned that Bob already had Stage IV cancer. There was little anyone could do. With the support of hospice workers, the family cocooned together in Colorado before having to say their final goodbyes to Bob Zane in September. He was 81.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36840\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36840\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36840\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101348\/Zane-thumbs-up-with-Shavona-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane with Shavona Gunn after she gave him his vaccine.\" width=\"800\" height=\"551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101348\/Zane-thumbs-up-with-Shavona-tiny.webp 800w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101348\/Zane-thumbs-up-with-Shavona-tiny-300x207.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101348\/Zane-thumbs-up-with-Shavona-tiny-768x529.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101348\/Zane-thumbs-up-with-Shavona-tiny-150x103.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17101348\/Zane-thumbs-up-with-Shavona-tiny-200x138.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36840\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane and Shavona Gunn celebrated after she gave him his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and the first dose at the Anschutz Medical Campus on Thursday. Photo by Katie McCrimmon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere was this big overall crisis of the pandemic, and in our family, we had this crisis,\u201d said Zane\u2019s sister, Daniela Kaisth.<\/p>\n<p>She said her brother stepped up both for his work family and for their family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe faced it with courage and also reached out for help. He took care of some things. I took care of others. He realized how important it was to take care of our father. We were a team.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Always ready to ride in to the rescue<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36799\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36799\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36799 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201257\/Zane-family-photo-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Richard Zane is confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Here, he poses as a child with his sister, Daniela and his parents Gilda and Bob Zane. Photo courtesy of the Zane family.\" width=\"400\" height=\"557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201257\/Zane-family-photo-tiny.webp 400w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201257\/Zane-family-photo-tiny-215x300.webp 215w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201257\/Zane-family-photo-tiny-108x150.webp 108w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201257\/Zane-family-photo-tiny-200x279.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36799\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rich Zane, lower, right, with his parents and his sister. Photo courtesy of the Zane family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nZane is the kind of leader who shines precisely when he\u2019s facing life\u2019s toughest challenges.<\/p>\n<p>He was driving his family\u00a0from Massachusetts to Colorado for his new job as head of the Emergency Department at University of Colorado Hospital on the day in July of 2012 when a gunman attacked theater goers in Aurora, a short distance from Zane\u2019s hospital. First responders and Zane\u2019s team handled the emergency overnight, but Zane later wrote a playbook on mass casualties and lessons learned from the Aurora shootings that assisted his former colleagues when they dealt with the Boston Marathon bombings less than a year later in April of 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Kaisth said her big brother always seems primed for emergencies. Instead of donning a superhero\u2019s cape, he\u2019s poised with a stethoscope, a sense of calm and a plenty of medical knowledge. One time, he also happened to have a life-saving lollipop.<\/p>\n<p>Zane was visiting Kaisth around the holidays and the two were at a mall near her home in New Jersey. They divided up to run errands and planned to meet back at the car.<\/p>\n<p>Zane was late, and when he showed up, he calmly explained the holdup.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36798\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36798\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36798\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201252\/Zane-as-a-child-with-mom-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane is confident that vaccines for COVID-19 are safe. Here, he poses with his mom.\" width=\"400\" height=\"439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201252\/Zane-as-a-child-with-mom-tiny.webp 400w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201252\/Zane-as-a-child-with-mom-tiny-273x300.webp 273w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201252\/Zane-as-a-child-with-mom-tiny-137x150.webp 137w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201252\/Zane-as-a-child-with-mom-tiny-200x220.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36798\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane with his mom, Gilda. The family had a tough year. Gilda Zane lost both her husband and her sister during 2020. Photo courtesy of the Zane family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI was walking through the mall and a guy was in diabetic shock. I found a little lollipop in my pocket and put it in the guy\u2019s mouth. I had to wait for the ambulance,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Zane was nonplussed. Kaisth was stunned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s crazy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was just so calm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s actually typical of her brother, who is two years older and has always been her protector and champion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe immediately sprang into action, probably saved that guy\u2019s life, then found me and drove home,\u201d she said. \u201cHe never thinks what he does is a big deal. He\u2019s a strong person who also has this very caring side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaisth is used to working with powerful leaders. She\u2019s president of Gratias Partners and helps non-profits and high-impact donors invest in philanthropical projects around the globe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s the smart one,\u201d Zane says of his sister.<\/p>\n<p>Kaisth, in turn, says Zane is a rare techy wonk who also has a big heart.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36797\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36797\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36797\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201247\/Rich-and-Daniela-kids-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane is confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Here, he poses with his sister, Daniela, when the two were kids.\" width=\"400\" height=\"262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201247\/Rich-and-Daniela-kids-tiny.webp 400w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201247\/Rich-and-Daniela-kids-tiny-300x197.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201247\/Rich-and-Daniela-kids-tiny-150x98.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201247\/Rich-and-Daniela-kids-tiny-200x131.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36797\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane, left, has always been close with his little sister, Daniela. Photo courtesy of the Zane family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Zane\u2019s dedication to his staff shows in the Emergency Department. He takes at least one shift a week working alongside students and new doctors, even though he has plenty of managerial work to keep him busy. He\u2019s juggling the equivalent of four jobs: Chief innovation officer for UCHealth\u2019s 12-hospitals, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cudoctors.com\/Find_A_Doctor\/Profile\/20587\">Chair of Emergency Medicine<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cudoctors.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of Colorado School of Medicine<\/a>, emergency medicine doctor and one of the leaders for UCHealth\u2019s pandemic response team. While some administrators don\u2019t work directly with patients, Zane believes it\u2019s critical to keep seeing patients and to mentor younger providers.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>\u2018Running toward the explosion\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When the pandemic hit, the ER instantly became one of the most vulnerable places. Zane worked to keep patients and staff members safe, coordinating closely with UCHealth\u2019s infectious disease experts, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/meet-the-top-infectious-disease-expert-in-colorado\/\">Dr. Michelle Barron<\/a>, and others to make sure everyone had the right protective gear.<\/p>\n<p>It then became obvious that the lack of reliable, plentiful COVID-19 tests was a huge problem. Without adequate testing, how could medical providers accurately diagnose patients and begin to slow the spread of COVID-19? Zane and his team immediately started working with researchers and lab experts at University of Colorado to test the accuracy and reliability of commercial COVID-19 tests, while also manufacturing their own. He and others ultimately set up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/covid-19-testing-technology-clinical-laboratories-are-home-to-unsung-heroes\/\">a system that supplies thousands of COVID-19 tests a day<\/a>, an indispensable tool for timely diagnoses.<\/p>\n<p>During the spring shutdown, it also became clear that patients needed to see their doctors safely from home. UCHealth already had a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/services\/virtual-urgent-care\/\">Virtual Urgent Care<\/a>, but demand for the service grew overnight.\u00a0Patients loved the convenience and the 24\/7 access to Colorado medical experts. At the same time, \u00a0Zane, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/about\/leadership\/\">UCHealth\u2019s Chief Information Officer Steve Hess<\/a>, and many others scaled up a full-fledged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/services\/virtual-visit\/\">Virtual Health center<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/virtual-visit-for-primary-care-and-specialists-to-stay-safe-from-coronavirus\/\">extending online visits from urgent care to primary care and specialty care almost overnight<\/a> \u2014\u00a0in all making virtual visits possible in about 600 clinics.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35803\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35803\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-35803\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/11\/07084122\/Zane-respirator-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane wearing a respirator mask. Zane is confident that COVID=19 vaccines are safe.\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/11\/07084122\/Zane-respirator-tiny.webp 600w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/11\/07084122\/Zane-respirator-tiny-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/11\/07084122\/Zane-respirator-tiny-113x150.webp 113w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/11\/07084122\/Zane-respirator-tiny-200x266.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35803\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane wearing a respirator mask during an ER shift. He&#8217;s thrilled to be getting his COVID-19 vaccine soon and is confident that the vaccines are safe. Photo courtesy of Dr. Richard Zane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been running a marathon on a sprinter\u2019s pace,\u201d Hess said. \u201cAll of this was unknown. It\u2019s so impressive to me that people like Rich and others in the ER had no clue what this disease was. Yet, they were putting their own lives at risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like that commercial for the Army that shows some people running away and others running toward an explosion. That\u2019s how I see Rich. He\u2019s the guy, leading the charge, running toward the explosion, running toward the pandemic. He jumped in to help with labs, testing, the ER and now vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome people shrink in the spotlight,\u201d Hess said. \u201cRich embraces it. He is commanding. This was his moment. He keeps people safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another colleague, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/richard-schulick-md-mba-surgery\/\">Dr. Richard Schulick<\/a>, has known Zane since the two trained together at Johns Hopkins University. Back when they met, Shulick was a surgical resident and Zane was one of his interns.<\/p>\n<p>Both are high-powered leaders today, but Schulick still likes to rib Zane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a bigshot, but I always tell him that he\u2019s still my intern,\u201d said Schulick, who is a renowned cancer surgeon and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cudoctors.com\/Find_A_Doctor\/Profile\/20652\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chair of Surgery<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cudoctors.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of Colorado School of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019d get up at 3:30 a.m. and do rounds. We had a lot of complex patients. We really bonded through that experience,\u201d Schulick said.<\/p>\n<p>He now sees the pandemic as the perfect challenge for Zane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s data-driven. He\u2019s organized. He\u2019s pragmatic and he gets the job done. He\u2019s even a little bit modest,\u201d Schulick said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was on the frontlines from the beginning. Before anyone gets admitted to the hospital, they go through his department. He had to deal with COVID-19 immediately, and he did a great job,\u201d Schulick said. \u201cThe key is balance: getting things done while staying safe and taking care of people. Our primary mission is to take care of people and he always takes care of patients and his staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>A love for emergency medicine and a desire to shake it up<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>While Zane has excelled at medicine, he might just as easily have become a lawyer, a college professor or a professional motocross rider.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36796\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36796\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36796\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201242\/Motorcycle-kid-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane loved riding motorcycles as a boy.\" width=\"400\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201242\/Motorcycle-kid-tiny.webp 400w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201242\/Motorcycle-kid-tiny-300x233.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201242\/Motorcycle-kid-tiny-150x116.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201242\/Motorcycle-kid-tiny-200x155.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36796\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">For a time, Dr. Richard Zane figured he&#8217;d be a professional motocross rider. Photo courtesy of the Zane family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Back in high school in Pennsylvania, where the family moved after returning from Europe, Zane loved wrestling and playing on the football team. His dad worked in the fashion industry, and when Zane announced toward the end of high school that he planned to skip college to ride motorcycles, his dad wisely got his son a job in a warehouse.<\/p>\n<p>Zane lasted three days before deciding that college was indeed for him. He played offensive tackle for the Johns Hopkins football team and after graduating, taught elementary school and coached football for a year before simultaneously applying to medical school, law school and graduate school.<\/p>\n<p>His soon-to-be-wife, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscolorado.org\/doctors-and-departments\/physicians\/m\/siobhan-murphy-zane\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Siobhan Murphy-Zane<\/a>, had plans to go to medical school. Zane wanted to impress her, so he opted for medical school too. The two met at age 22, have been married for 26 years and have three children. Murphy-Zane now is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>During medical school, Zane originally planned to go into primary care or become an obstetrician. Then, he found his calling in emergency medicine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really clicked. It felt like skimming the cream from every other specialty. There\u2019s this intensity. There\u2019s something new all the time. It\u2019s very intense,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-36800\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201302\/Zane-playing-football-at-Hopkins-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane is confident that vaccines for COVID-19 are safe. Here, Zane poses back in college at Johns Hopkins where he played on the football team.\" width=\"400\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201302\/Zane-playing-football-at-Hopkins-tiny.webp 400w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201302\/Zane-playing-football-at-Hopkins-tiny-300x239.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201302\/Zane-playing-football-at-Hopkins-tiny-150x120.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201302\/Zane-playing-football-at-Hopkins-tiny-200x160.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After medical school at Temple University, he completed his residency and fellowship at Johns Hopkins and went on to practice at Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital and to serve as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. Zane started working on emergency preparedness and mass casualty care well before arriving in Colorado, and during an expansion at University of Colorado, when he had the chance to create a new Emergency Department from the ground up, Zane insisted on a \u201cno waiting\u201d system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis vision was, \u2018I want to keep the waiting room empty. We need to make sure we\u2019re getting patients back into exam rooms within 15 minutes,\u2019\u201d said Hess, a frequent co-conspirator with Zane in plans to disrupt and improve stubbornly complex health systems.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of an empty waiting room was revolutionary and entirely antithetical to TV shows that portrayed ERs stuffed to the gills with people waiting for hours to get care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThink about that: an empty waiting room,\u201d Hess said. \u201cHe has vision and he\u2019s strategic and he has a passion for disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36814\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36814\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36814\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/16064416\/Steve-Hess-head-shot-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Steve Hess, UCHealth Chief Information Officer, headshot.\" width=\"350\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/16064416\/Steve-Hess-head-shot-tiny.webp 600w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/16064416\/Steve-Hess-head-shot-tiny-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/16064416\/Steve-Hess-head-shot-tiny-113x150.webp 113w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/16064416\/Steve-Hess-head-shot-tiny-200x267.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36814\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UCHealth Chief Information Officer, Steve Hess, works closely with Dr. Richard Zane and says the two frequently &#8220;run through the briar patch&#8221; together to push for solutions to thorny problems in health care. Photo: UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The concept has worked so well that UCHealth has replicated Zane\u2019s designs in all its Emergency Departments. In normal times, health leaders from across the U.S., Europe and Asia regularly visit the University of Colorado Emergency Department to learn how they might re-shape their hospitals. And the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada have tapped Zane\u2019s concepts to reshape their highly regarded hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>COVID-19 certainly has stressed Emergency Departments and hospital managers across the globe, but Zane and fellow leaders keep reassessing and redesigning their systems to adapt to the pandemic. Now Zane, Hess and other leaders are racing to get thousands of UCHealth employees, community providers and contractors vaccinated as quickly as possible. Their ambitious goal for the moment: get those who have frequent and direct contact with COVID-19 patients\u00a0vaccinated before Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>Challenges like these are business as usual for Zane, said Hess.<\/p>\n<p>The two joke about \u201crunning the briar patch together\u201d every time they launch a new endeavor or innovation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThink about a briar patch. It\u2019s a messy bunch of thick bushes and barbs,\u201d Hess said. \u201cwe call health care the briar patch. It\u2019s complex and everywhere you turn, you\u2019re going to get stuck on another barb. You\u2019re going to get some scars. And sometimes, you\u2019re going to get stuck. But, we\u2019ve got each other\u2019s backs. And, when we get to the other side, some really cool things have been created.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Pandemic like a mass casualty event that lasts for months<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Zane studied natural sciences and writing, not industrial engineering, but he likes the idea of methodically shaking things up. That\u2019s a good thing because the challenge of facing the biggest pandemic in a century forced Zane and his colleagues to do just that day after day throughout 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have only read about what it was like to live through the Spanish flu in 1918, but this experience isn\u2019t comparable to anything we\u2019ve lived through before. There\u2019s no comparison in my lifetime. We\u2019ve made plans for anthrax, small pox, Ebola, terrorism, riots and natural disasters. Nothing compares to this,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<p>While we tend to think of mass casualty events as quick bursts of chaos, the pandemic actually has been a mass casualty event spread over many months, Zane said. And to handle that kind of ongoing chaos, staying calm and deliberate is all the more important.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36805\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36805\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36805 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15203026\/Zane-in-ED-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane is confident that vaccines for COVID-19 are safe. Here he poses in an Emergency Department which he transformed.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15203026\/Zane-in-ED-tiny.webp 800w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15203026\/Zane-in-ED-tiny-300x201.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15203026\/Zane-in-ED-tiny-768x514.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15203026\/Zane-in-ED-tiny-150x100.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15203026\/Zane-in-ED-tiny-200x134.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36805\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane transformed the Emergency Department at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMy approach to everything is to try to be deliberate and very systematic. We embed technology and data in everything when it makes sense, but always unapologetically and deliberately,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think differently about challenges and constantly try to identify a better way even if it\u2019s been done a certain way forever.\u00a0 We develop tools for emergency preparedness. I feel like that approach is what is needed for this moment,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll disasters are just a supply and demand mismatch. It\u2019s all about context,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if there\u2019s a bad car accident in a town with a tiny hospital, medical providers can\u2019t handle the influx of several patients all at once. On the other hand, a big hospital with plenty of resources, can handle the crush.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to COVID-19 has required Zane and many, many others to keep bracing for new waves of very sick people, and each time, to be better prepared so they could help more and more of them survive. In fact, the team of providers accomplished just that. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/more-covid-19-patients-are-surviving-now-as-care-therapies-improve\/\">Survival rates for COVID-19 have improved dramatically<\/a> as providers have learned how to better help patients and new therapies have arrived to help them.<\/p>\n<p>Zane said it\u2019s no surprise that the UCHealth team has done well. Teams were ready and executed their plans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t think of disasters as isolated occurrences,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re going to have a consistent approach to crisis management, transparency of decisions, follow standard operating procedures when appropriate and being deliberate and proactive throughout the crisis,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<p>He gives teams at UCHealth &#8211; providers and leaders &#8211; high marks for weathering the COVID-19 storm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone has done a remarkable job of being deliberate, proactive, paying attention to detail, taking care of people and understanding our guiding principles: that we\u2019re taking care of patients and we will never put our staff and providers in positions where they don\u2019t have the right equipment,\u201d Zane said.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>And now, a \u2018Herculean\u2019 effort produce a miraculous vaccine<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36835\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36835\" style=\"width: 175px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36835\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17085952\/Zane-helmet-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane in his motorcycle helmet.\" width=\"175\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17085952\/Zane-helmet-tiny.webp 751w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17085952\/Zane-helmet-tiny-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17085952\/Zane-helmet-tiny-113x150.webp 113w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/17085952\/Zane-helmet-tiny-200x266.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36835\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane always wears a helmet when he rides his motorcycle. Photo courtesy of Dr. Richard Zane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By next summer, Zane hopes a large percentage of people in the U.S. will be vaccinated and the country and medical providers can finally declare the pandemic over.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps then, Zane will have more time to relax and enjoy his hobbies like spending time with his family and riding his motorcycle (always wearing a helmet!).<\/p>\n<p>And when he reflects on 2020, he\u2019ll remember getting his vaccine and thinking about the remarkable efforts that made it possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s truly one of the most monumental scientific achievements of our lifetimes. Full stop. Operation Warp Speed has put more resources in front of scientists than ever before. It\u2019s not just dollars, but people: the most brilliant minds working on a problem in a very deliberate, systematic way.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36795\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36795\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36795\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201237\/Motorcycle-adult-tiny.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Richard Zane is confident that vaccines for COVID-19 are safe. He looks forward to a time when the pandemic is over and he has time to ride his motorcycle again.\" width=\"600\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201237\/Motorcycle-adult-tiny.webp 600w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201237\/Motorcycle-adult-tiny-300x267.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201237\/Motorcycle-adult-tiny-150x134.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15201237\/Motorcycle-adult-tiny-200x178.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Zane is looking forward to the end of the pandemic so he&#8217;ll have time to ride his motorcycle again. Photo courtesy of the Zane family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThis vaccine was produced in an amazing, thoroughly deliberate, Herculean, genius way,\u201d Zane said. \u201cIt\u2019s actually mind-blowing. It\u2019s just unbelievable. I\u2019m not religious. But you could almost call it a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zane\u2019s colleague and buddy, Dr. Schulick, agrees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it\u2019s my turn, I\u2019m running to get the vaccine,\u201d Schulick said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Editor&#8217;s note: For more information on COVID-19 vaccines, please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/services\/infectious-diseases\/coronavirus-covid-19\/covid-19-vaccine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">click here<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The moment when Dr. Richard Zane received a new COVID-19 vaccine became one of the most memorable of his career and an experience that all of his professional accomplishments have prepared him to fully appreciate. \u201cThis is the event of our generation. It will be in every history book, every scientific book. The creation of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2123,"featured_media":36773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4860,9069],"class_list":["post-36760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-covid-19","tag-covid-19-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Long and poignant journey to a safe COVID-19 vaccine - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Richard Zane has been fighting COVID-19 all year. He&#039;s confident vaccines are safe, and we are experiencing a historic moment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Long and poignant journey to a safe COVID-19 vaccine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Richard Zane has been fighting COVID-19 all year. He&#039;s confident vaccines are safe, and we are experiencing a historic moment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-17T15:06:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-21T16:16:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/15141642\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"19 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d43cd81d6f8e440a3e496f8a012c68e9\"},\"headline\":\"Long and poignant journey to a safe COVID-19 vaccine\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-17T15:06:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-21T16:16:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3818,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/15141642\\\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"COVID-19\",\"COVID-19 vaccine\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/\",\"name\":\"Long and poignant journey to a safe COVID-19 vaccine - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/why-covid-19-vaccines-are-safe-and-dr-richard-zane-was-thrilled-to-get-his\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/15141642\\\/Zane-portrait-smiling-tiny.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-17T15:06:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-21T16:16:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dr. Richard Zane has been fighting COVID-19 all year. 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