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First round of staff at Mary Free Bed gets Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine

Posted at 6:34 AM, Dec 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-24 06:36:14-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Some physicians, nurses, and therapists were among the first at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday.

The hospital received its shipment early Wednesday morning and started administering them in the afternoon.

Rehabilitation physician Richard Ball, M.D., was the first person immunized. The remaining doses in this first shipment will be given to frontline caregivers next week.

"There's really no reason not to get it," Ball said.

Nakiah Mayfield was the first nurse to administer the vaccine.

"It's exciting. I was a little nervous, just having it in my hands," she said. "I'm excited to show my daughter because this pandemic is something that she'll never forget and I want for her to know I was a part of stopping it or ending it or making a difference," Mayfield said.

“We owe a huge debt to the science and hard work that created the vaccines,” said Michael Jakubowski, Mary Free Bed chief medical officer. “We’re hopeful, humbled and grateful at Mary Free Bed to have these vaccinations.”