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Maui Health System nurses Sloan Ponte (from left), Taryn Pacheco, Kiki Quarry and Katie Talbot flex for the cameras after being four of the first frontline staffers vaccinated for COVID-19 on Wednesday morning at the hospital. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
WAILUKU Hailed as history in the making, the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine were administered Wednesday to hundreds of Maui County frontline health care workers and first responders, with many citing community service as the reason they volunteered.
Officials said 270 Maui Health System staff received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku. Another 215 police, fire and American Medical Response workers took the Moderna vaccine at University of Hawaii Maui College in Kahului.
Dec 23, 2020
Maui Health System nurses Sloan Ponte (from left), Taryn Pacheco, Kiki Quarry and Katie Talbot flex for the cameras after being four of the first frontline staffers vaccinated for COVID-19 Wednesday morning at the hospital. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
A respiratory therapist, an emergency room physician and other Maui Memorial Medical Center staff became the first people in Maui County to receive the COVID-19 vaccine early Wednesday morning.
The very first shot of the 975 Pfizer-BioNTech doses, which were delivered to Maui Health on Monday, went to Will Ambat, a respiratory therapist.
“We’re very close to these patients every time we do care,” Ambat told The Maui News after getting the shot. “That’s why I’m very happy about this vaccine, so at this point I can continue to care for our patients and do so safely with a peace of mind, and also help protect them and also my family.”