Friday, January 1, 2021
Vol. 81, No. 53
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SERVING PLAINVIEW, HICKSVILLE, AND LEVITTOWN
HICKSVILLE FIREFIGHTER HONORED
Plainview Hospital doctor receives first dose of COVID vaccine BY GARY SIMEONE
Nassau County Legislator Arnold W. Drucker (D - Plainview) joined his Legislature colleagues on Monday, Nov. 23 in congratulating Hicksville Fire Department Lieutenant Andrew Niemczyk and Captain Chris Moskos Jr. for their life-saving response to a recent house fire. On Monday, Sept. 28, Lieutenant Niemczyk and Captain Moskos rushed to the scene of an early-morning house fire on Sutherland Road in Hicksville. Once on scene, they swiftly
located and rescued a 90-yearold resident who had collapsed in her kitchen. Thanks to their rapid response and assistance from a neighbor who alerted authorities, the resident was
rushed to Nassau University Medical Center for treatment and is on the road to recovery. Fire operations were under the command of Chief of Department Gary Lewis.
Fire at Lutheran Church
A fire damaged the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Levittown on Christmas morning, according to Nassau County Police. According to police, Eighth Precinct officers responded to a call for a fire at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, located at 2323 Hempstead Turnpike. Upon arrival, police
observed the building was partially engulfed in flames. The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire. No injuries were reported at scene. The Levittown Fire Department responded and was assisted by several other fire departments including those from Wantagh, East Meadow and Bethpage. Which consisted of
approximately fifteen pieces of apparatus and 125 firefighters. No criminality is suspected at this time. Investigation is ongoing. The church, which is almost seventy years old, sustained damage to its attic and extensive smoke and water damage throughout.
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It was a memorable occasion on Tuesday, December 15 as a doctor at Plainview Hospital was one of the first frontline workers to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Dr. Nicolas Hernandez, a physician who specializes in family medicine, was one of hundreds of Long Islanders who received the initial dose of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The preventative vaccine is meant to be taken in two-dose regimen three weeks apart. Dr. Hernandez said there were two main reasons he chose to be one of the first people to receive the vaccine. “I wanted to have an added layer of protection because of my work here at the hospital, and it was a personal decision to me because I have lost two family members to the virus,” said Dr. Hernandez. Back in March, when the virus was ramping up in New York, Dr. Hernandez and his wife became infected around St Patrick’s Day. “I had a particularly nasty case with the fever, lethargy and the dry cough. The symptoms lasted for about ten days, and it was the sickest I’ve ever been in my life.” He said that around the same time period, his grandfather, who was in a nearby nursing facility, caught the virus and ended up being transported to the hospital. “He came to the hospital in April, and we tried doing all we could, but he was an older man in his 80s with underlying health conditions. He died from COVID-19.” Dr. Hernandez said that in July, his wife’s mother, who had medical conditions herself, caught the virus and died later that month at 59 years of age. As far as the side effects from the initial dose of vaccine, he said that he hadn’t experienced major symptoms from the injection. “The first day after I received it, I was little bit woozy, and then I had a bit of body aches and a headache the following two days. My arm was a little sore at the injection site, but two Advils took care or that. By last Thursday, I was feeling pretty good.” Dr. Hernandez said since he has been vaccinated, the hospital has been working in weekly shifts to vaccinate other frontline workers and emergency staff. He said that seven people were being vaccinated at a time in fifteen-minute intervals. As far as the new cases of COVID-19 in the hospital, Dr. HernanSee page 15
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