MIDLAND, Texas — Nine months into the pandemic, and a vaccine for COVID-19 has finally made its way into Midland. Midland Memorial Hospital got its first shipment of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, and the hospital immediately got to work.
Five doctors and nurses, specifically chosen by Midland Memorial, had the honor of being the very first recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine in Midland.
With skepticism surrounding the vaccine due to how quickly it was produced, faster than any other vaccine in history, Gerardo Catalasan, a doctor at Midland Memorial, wanted to set an example for his patients.
"To me, it’s a way of of protecting myself but also protecting people you love, you care about, protecting the people you work with, and above all it’s one way of protecting the community and everything. So that’s why, that’s what it means to me," Catalasan said.
For another doctor, Kavitha Bagadi, she said that this is the first real tool we've had to fight this vaccine.
"We have a great tool in the form of the vaccine that the FDA approved. It's very safe and effective with close to 95 percent efficacy. The vaccine is only going to be impactful if you could get upwards of 70 percent of our population vaccinated," Bagadi said.
This is a sentiment shared by fellow Midland Memorial Hospital doctor, John Petersen. He believes this vaccine is the only way to end the pandemic.
"If you wanna get past COVID, this is really the way. There’s no medication out there that is going to prevent it. There’s not really any effective medication to change the course of the disease if you happen to be unlucky enough to be someone who has a serious case," Petersen said.
Despite some side effects that may come with taking the vaccine, registered nurse, Tracey Hall said that they are nothing compared to the virus itself.
"You may have a headache, you may have pain at the injection site, you may have some fatigue, but you know all those compared to what COVID really actually does to you is nothing so I would encourage everyone to get the vaccine," Hall said.
For registered nurse, Bridget Castillo, the new vaccine brings something that's been missing during these last nine months: hope.
"To me, it means it gives us hope that this is kind of coming to an end you know. We’ve been fighting this for a while now and everyone is tired of it, but now you know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel which gives me hope," Castillo said.