USA Health gives first doses of vaccine to protect against COVID-19

Employees at USA Health have begun to receive the newly approved Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine just hours after shipments arrived in Mobile. Fifteen frontline healthcare workers from across USA Health began taking the first of two doses Tuesday, Dec. 15, as USA Health released a process for other employees to complete a survey and self-schedule appointments for vaccinations.

University Hospital nurse manager Kimberly Tucker, MSN, RN, was the first healthcare worker in Mobile to receive the vaccine on Tuesday at University Hospital. She gave a thumbs-up after getting the shot from Kortni Kennell, a nurse on the infectious disease team.

Those gathered for the historic occasion clapped and cheered for Tucker and those who followed her lead.

For Tucker, there had been some initial apprehension about getting the vaccine, but after talking to her doctor, who offered to get it with her, she decided to take the preventive measure. Second in line for the shot on Dec. 15 was her physician, Wilbur “Will” Bolton, an endocrinologist at USA Health.

COVID-19 survivor Kristina Blake, a long-time nurse manager for the pediatric emergency department at Children’s & Women’s Hospital, also was among the first to receive the vaccine. She told those gathered that she got it “so I can live.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as a bandage was pressed against her upper arm following the injection. Blake said she spent almost two weeks in a critical care unit this summer, and has lived in fear of becoming sick with COVID-19 for a second time.