Health Care Workers Across The Nation Make History On Day 2 Of Rollout

Health workers celebrated in the South —

Houston Chronicle: Registered Nurse Gets 'Momentous' First Houston-Area Vaccine At Memorial Hermann
Robert Luckey, a COVID ICU registered nurse at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, got the region’s first coronavirus vaccine today. “It’s momentous for this country,” he said of both the vaccination being developed and of being the first in the region to receive it. “This is honestly the light at the end of the tunnel.” Staff applauded as the vaccine was injected into Luckey’s upper left arm. (Dellinger, 12/15)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: As Coronavirus Vaccine Doses Roll Out Across Louisiana, Here's Why Distribution Could Be Challenging
Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the New Orleans health director who has guided the pandemic response for City Hall, briefly closed her eyes as needle sunk into skin Tuesday at University Medical Center. As she received her first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, she said, she was thinking of the people already lost to the disease. “Just sort of saying a prayer for them and feeling like this can prevent more,” said Avegno, who has watched three surges hit her hometown and kill more than 1,800 people in the region. (Woodruff, 12/15)

Clarion-Ledger: Mississippi's Top Health Officials Take COVID-19 Vaccine, Discuss State Distribution
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers were among the first in the state to receive a recently approved COVID-19 vaccine, receiving the shots during a news conference Monday. Dobbs, Byers and other health officials were given pharmaceutical company Pfizer's vaccine, which already is being distributed to hundreds of providers across the state. (Rowe, 12/15)

And along the East Coast —

Savannah Morning News: Chatham Nurses Who Cared For COVID Patients First To Get Vaccine.
In a parking lot near the one in which she organized the area's first drive-through COVID testing site more than eight months earlier, Chatham County Nurse Manager Tammi Brown received the COVID vaccine on Tuesday. "We're just thrilled that the vaccine is here," Brown said before a ceremony at the Chatham County Health Department attended by Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Commissioner of Health Dr. Kathleen Toomey. "And we're thrilled to be a part of it. Especially so early in the process." (Landers, 12/15)

North Carolina Health News: COVID Vaccines Are Here. What Do You Need To Know? 
At Atrium Health in Charlotte, the first person to get the new COVID vaccine was medical director of infection prevention, Katie Passaretti. At UNC Health in Chapel Hill, it was the nurse manager of the medical intensive care unit. At Cape Fear Valley Health, it was a nurse in the inpatient COVID-19 unit. (Hoban and Blythe, 12/16)

AP: Virginia's Healthcare Workers Start Receiving Vaccinations
Healthcare workers in Virginia started receiving the state’s first doses of a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, kicking off what is likely to be a months long process of inoculating people from the potentially deadly disease. The Ballad Health system broadcast live video of registered nurse Emily Boucher getting her first shot in an area of southwestern Virginia. “I will never stop trying to convince everyone about the reality of COVID-19,” Boucher said before pulling up her left sleeve at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon. (12/15)

The Washington Post: His Staff Cleans Covid-19 Hospital Rooms. He Got The Vaccine To Build Trust In The Shot.
Roy Dunlap told his family his plans as they sat down to a dinner of salmon, greens and white rice. “I’m going to take the vaccine tomorrow,” the director of environmental services at Howard University Hospital said. His 17-year-old son’s eyes bulged and he raised his eyebrows to the heavens, as he typically does when his father says something out of the ordinary. Then the teenager looked at his mother. “What do you mean?” Dunlap remembers his wife saying. “Your family needs you. Let somebody else take it.” But Dunlap had already made up his mind to get the coronavirus vaccine. He thought about the number of people who have died of covid-19, including one of the cleaning workers he supervised at the hospital. (Fadulu, 12/15)

Courier-Journal: 'A Great Moment': First Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine Reaching Health Workers Around Kentucky
One day after becoming the first person at his Bowling Green hospital to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. William Moss said his arm was sore but his spirits were high. "It was a great moment, the fact that we are starting to reverse this process and hopefully get our society back where it used to be," the emergency room physician at the Medical Center said Tuesday. As for his sore arm, Moss said it's no worse than if he'd had a flu shot, adding: "Tetanus shots are the worst, and it was better than that." (Yetter, 12/15)

Reuters: U.S. COVID-19 Immunization Rollout Expands As Officials Avow Vaccine's Safety 
The United States expanded its rollout of the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine to hundreds of additional distribution centers on Tuesday, inoculating thousands more healthcare workers in a mass immunization expected to reach the general public in the coming months. ... At University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, emergency room nurse Maritza Beniquez on Tuesday became the first person in that state to receive the vaccine in one of numerous such made-for-TV moments playing out across the country. “I couldn’t wait for this moment to hit New Jersey. I couldn’t wait for it to hit the U.S.,” Beniquez said as she was vaccinated with Governor Phil Murphy looking on. (Munoz, 12/15)

Boston Globe: ‘A Great Day, A Great Place’: Boston Medical Center Staff Celebrate The Arrival Of A Coronavirus Vaccine
Medical professionals working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic have dealt with a taxing year — from treating an overwhelming number of patients desperately ill with a new virus at once to facing uncertainty about personal protective equipment supplies. So when Boston Medical Center received one of the first nationwide shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine early Monday morning, it was a reason to celebrate. For the first time in months — and on the same day the nation surpassed 300,000 deaths from the virus — hope was on the horizon. (Larson, 12/15)

Bangor Daily News: She’s One Of The Few In The State To Get A Vaccine Dose, But She’s Not Ready To Take Her Mask Off
Veteran marathon runner and doctor Christine Hein is used to the stress that comes with a fast-paced life. It is the norm for her as an emergency physician and chief wellness officer at Maine Medical Center in Portland — working for eight hours to treat patients suffering from strokes or severe injuries in the emergency department for an overnight shift, before shifting gears to teach classes or complete administrative work. The coronavirus pandemic kicked things into a higher gear, requiring more vigilance and an acute awareness of how vulnerable health care workers are. That is why when Hein became the sixth person at the Portland hospital — and likely the state of Maine — to get a first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine Tuesday morning, she allowed herself to feel the first tendrils of hope that the pandemic could have an end date. But she does not see herself relaxing any time soon. (Andrews, 12/16)

Cheers continued in the Midwest and West —

Des Moines Register: 'Feels Like A Beginning To The End': First Coronavirus Vaccinations Begin In Iowa
The COVID-19 vaccine didn’t feel any different from any of the other shots University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics registered dietitian Sarah Davis has received over the years. A quick needle stick, and no pain, she said immediately after her shot Monday morning. The only difference between this shot and her others was that the faces of intensive care unit patients for whom she’s cared were flashing through her head. “It’s been a rough six months,” she said. “(The vaccine) just feels like a beginning to the end of all this. A light at the end of the tunnel.” (Coltrain, 12/14)

AP: VA Hospital Nurse Is First To Receive COVID-19 Shot In MN
A nurse on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center was the first in Minnesota to receive a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday. Thera Witte, who works in a coronavirus unit at the hospital, said she feels honored to be the first and did not hesitate to volunteer. “I’m feeling hopeful that this is the beginning of the end” of the pandemic, Witte said after receiving the first of two Pfizer doses. She will be vaccinated again in three weeks. (12/15)

The Oklahoman: 'A Historic Day': First COVID-19 Vaccines Administered In Oklahoma
It’s unusual for a vaccination to end with a round of applause, but for Hannah White, the first Oklahoman to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, that’s exactly what happened. White, 31, a registered nurse who works in the emergency room at the Integris Baptist Medical Center, received Oklahoma’s first COVID-19 vaccine Monday in front of dozens of reporters, medical professionals and state and local officials. “Hopefully, this is the start of something better,” she said, holding back tears. After registered nurse Erica Arrocha administered the vaccine, the two nurses, who are colleagues, embraced. (Forman, 12/15)

AP: 'I Feel Hope': Nurse Among 1st To Get Vaccine In Washington
With a quick, painless shot in the arm, health care workers in Washington began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, marking a turning point 10 months after the state confronted the first U.S. outbreak of the virus. “For the first time in a while, I feel hope,” Harborview Medical Center COVID-19 intensive care nurse Amy Fry said after becoming the first worker there to be vaccinated. “It’s been a long, exhausting road.” (Johnson, 12/16)

Anchorage Daily News: ‘The Beginning Of The End Of The Suffering’: COVID-19 Vaccinations Administered To Frontline Health Workers
David Donahue, a respiratory therapist at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, sat next to nurse Emily Schubert on Tuesday morning and rolled up his sleeve. This week marks a historic turning point in Alaska’s battle with COVID-19 as some of the state’s first vaccines were administered to frontline healthcare workers. “The hopes and dreams are that we see enough people get the vaccine that the spread backs off,” Donahue said. (Krakow and Lester, 12/15)