Mercy Fort Smith provides 20,000th dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Mercy Communications
Fort Smith
Mercy Fort Smith celebrated a milestone on April 2 when it administered its 20,000th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Kevin Goff, 20, of Booneville received Mercy Fort Smith’s 20,000th dose during his scheduled appointment. Goff wanted to get the vaccine to protect himself and those he encounters at his job at Walmart in Booneville.
“I got it mainly so I don’t get COVID and I don’t spread it to others. Especially with where I work, I’m with customers a lot,” he said.
Arkansas recently expanded vaccine eligibility to include anyone 16 or older, which Goff said was his motivation to receive the vaccine when he did.
Area hospitals start giving COVID-19 vaccine to frontline workers
Mercy in Fort Smith received its first shipment of 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine just after 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Author: Kathryn Gilker Updated: 7:28 PM CST December 15, 2020
FORT SMITH, Ark. All hospitals in the River Valley and Northwest Arkansas have received their first shipments of the Pfizer COVID19 vaccine and on Tuesday (Dec. 15) many hospitals began giving those vaccines to frontline workers.
Dr. Jason McKinney is the Medical Director for the intensive care unit at Mercy in Rogers. He was the first at his hospital to receive the vaccine Tuesday.
He says he feels a bit of relief after getting the vaccine because he feels like he’s been running a marathon for months now not knowing when this pandemic is going to end but knows he still has some months left of running.
While the COVID-19 vaccine has yet to arrive in Pope County, health care workers in Fort Smith and Little Rock were among the first in the state to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which began shipping on Monday.
The state of Arkansas has a Tiered approach to vaccination, with front line healthcare workers first in line, Monica Baxter, employee health and infection control nurse at Saint Maryâs Medical Center in Russellville stated in an email Tuesday.
âSaint Maryâs will be receiving our first allotment Thursday, and will begin vaccinating our staff the same day,â Baxter stated. âOur first allotment is 150 doses, and we expect additional allotments in the future.â