Start of vaccinations across US brings hope as COVID-19 death toll soars By Campbell Robertson, Amy Harmon and Mitch Smith New York Times,Updated December 14, 2020, 9:34 p.m. Email to a Friend David Conway, an emergency medicine nurse, was the first staff member to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City on Monday.KATHRYN GAMBLE/NYT PITTSBURGH â Some of the very medical centers that have endured the worst of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States found the gloom that has long filled their corridors replaced by elation and hope Monday as health care workers became the first to take part in a mass vaccination campaign aimed at ending the pandemic.