‘Light at the end of the tunnel’: First Delawarean receives covid-19 vaccine

DELAWARE – Delaware took a major step in the fight against covid-19 on Tuesday, as the first Delawarean received the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at Bayhealth’s Kent campus in Dover.

Health officials say the first dose went to Elisabeth Cote, a progressive care unit nurse at Bayhealth. She received the vaccine around 24 hours after the first shipment arrived in Delaware.

In a statement, Governor John Carney said “After nine long months fighting Covid-19, this is a moment of hope for Delaware and for our country. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

So far, the state has received 975 of it’s 8,775 pre-ordered doses of the vaccine from Pfizer. The rest of the vaccines should be in the state on Wednesday.

The Division of Public Health plans to distribute the vaccine in a three-tiered format, meaning health care personnel, emergency medical services agencies, and long-term care staff and residents will receive the vaccine first.

Then, those who work in high-risk and critical infrastructure industries (food processing, education, police and fire), and those who live and work in correctional facilities and homeless shelters, along with those with underlying health conditions are likely to receive the vaccine.

Finally, sometime around March of 2021, health officials say those with more moderate risk of getting the virus will be eligible to receive the vaccine.