MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis VA Medical Center received its first doses of a coronavirus vaccine just days ago, and Thursday, WREG was there as employees rolled up their sleeves to get their shot.
“With us being on the front line and being essentially exposed to this every single day, the last thing that I want to do is take the chance of spreading this to someone that I work with, or our veteran population, potentially, putting them at risk,” said Memphis VA Medical Center pharmacist Jarred Bowden.
Related: COVID-19 Vaccines arriving today at Memphis hospitals. But will front-line workers take it?
The Memphis VA received around 1,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine that will go to staff working with patients. It is one of only 37 VA centers across the country selected to provide the vaccine.
Memphis VA doctor Marvin Miller says there was one main reason.
“Well, we had the equipment here to take care of the vaccine. It requires super low freezing temperatures to keep it stable and to store. And we were one of the VAs that had that equipment here to be able to store them properly,” Miller said.
Miller himself took the shot Wednesday with the very first five or so employees.
“It was fine I could not even feel the injection in my arm,” Miller said. “Twenty-four hours later, I have a little soreness in my arm. I’ve had no systemic side effects whatsoever.”
The vaccine is only being prepared for the number of employees who want to take it.
“It’s only good for about six hours once you reconstitute it and pull it up in syringes, so part of the real preparation part of this is to make sure that we waste no doses,” said Dr. Kevin Freeman, chief of pharmacy at the Memphis VA.
Out of about 2,400 employees, the VA says 504 have already signed up to take the vaccine. Those signing up hope it sends a message to others.
“It’s important to show our patients and colleagues this is a safe vaccine. It’s gonna save a lot of lives and allow us to get back to some normalcy,” said Dr. Jane Eason, Memphis VA infectious disease specialist.
The vaccine is not mandatory for VA workers, but the veterans’ hospital is educating employees on the importance of getting it. Those workers getting shots now will get their second dose in 21 days.