COVID vaccine arrives
First doses in county administered Monday
Clinton Emergency 911 Dispatch Supervisor Chuck Peters receives a coronavirus vaccine shot from Gail Baird, nursing supervisor at the Anderson County Health Department, in the parking lot outside the department’s building on Monday afternoon (Dec. 21). (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The department received its first shipment of vaccine shortly before the vaccinations began, and the first to receive the initial dose of vaccine was Chuck Peters, supervisor at the Clinton 911 Dispatch Center, which is part of the Clinton Police Department.
About 10 Clinton first-responders were on the list for the first shipment, which was the Moderna vaccine — the second one the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave emergency approval to, which occurred late last week.
A few days earlier, the Pfizer vaccine was approved and its distribution was begun.
The Moderna vaccine is easier to transport, as it does not have to be kept as cold as the Pfizer vaccine, said Charles Turner, the Anderson County health director.
Turner was on hand to watch over the initial vaccinations on Monday afternoon. He said first-responders, in-patient health-care workers and residents and staff at long-term health-care facilities are in the first tier of people eligible for vaccinations in Tennessee.
The second tier will include all other health-care workers, then the third tier takes in high-risk people with co-morbidities. There are six tiers in all.
The first dose of vaccine must be followed up 28 days later with a second dose.
Those administering the vaccines are on the lookout for any adverse reactions, but those have been very few so far, national news reports have indicated.
Two hours after receiving his vaccination, Peters said by phone that he was “feeling fine” and so far had not experienced any ill effects from the shot.
He said he waited in his truck at the Health Department for about 20 minutes before the nurse told him he was cleared to leave.
“I haven’t felt anything out of the normal,” said Peters, who is 67. “So far there has been no stinging or redness — absolutely nothing. I thought it would be sore, but I haven’t felt anything yet.”
Peters was among about five people from the Clinton Police Department to get the first vaccinations.
“I had figured it would be spring at the earliest before I could get it,” he said. “I feel blessed and I feel fortunate. I admit I was a little bit skeptical about the vaccines at first. But I was fine with it today.”
The Anderson County Health Department will continue vaccinations as more doses of vaccine arrive, officials said.