Skyler Howard, a critical care nurse at HCA TriStar Southern Hills
Credit Blake Farmer / WPLN COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Tennessee hospitals Thursday in the darkest days of the pandemic so far. Even as they began inoculating their frontline staff, they are seeing the sickest patients yet.
Middle Tennessee hospitals are celebrating the vaccine’s arrival, even if it was a few days later than expected. The three biggest health systems in Nashville each received allotments and immediately started vaccinating employees. Vanderbilt University Medical Center held a ceremonial vaccinating of its first five employees, all who work directly with COVID patients. Gov. Bill Lee attended the event and stressed that the hope of the vaccine doesn’t resolve the dire situation Tennessee finds itself in, leading the nation in new cases. “This vaccine will not cure foolish decisions about how we gather,” he says. “It won’t not cure an attitude of a refusal to wear a mask, and