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COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Southern Indiana, front-line workers get first shots

The vaccines arrived in Southern Indiana Monday morning and will be administered to frontline healthcare workers in the area over the next few weeks.

CLARK COUNTY, Ind. — Excited and happy were some of the words people were using to describe how they felt as Clark Memorial administered their first COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday.

The vaccines arrived in Southern Indiana and will be administered to frontline healthcare workers in the area over the next few weeks.

Dr. Klaus Boel, Chief Medical Officer at Clark Memorial Health was the first to receive the vaccine. He sat patiently, and quietly as the syringe was filled with the Pfizer vaccine, and his arm was cleaned and prepped. 

The room around him was full of buzz, as photographers and hospital staff clamored for a spot to see history take place. But he stayed quiet and did not flinch as the vaccine was administered. After a band-aid was put on, he smiled and immediately began to laugh. 

"What just happened is phenomenal,” said Klaus.

He immediately was sent to the waiting room for observation for fifteen minutes. 

He laughed while talking about how he was the first to receive the vaccine at Clark Memorial, and when asked how he felt he said, 'It feels pretty good, I'm glad everyone else is here getting their vaccine"

For healthcare workers, this vaccine offers a glimmer of hope. 

"I don't think I have ever been so excited to get a shot in my life," said Dr. Eric Yazel, Chief Health Officer of the Clark County Health Department. 

Yazel said he is grateful for the vaccine, as a healthcare worker but also as a son. He is hoping after his second dose of the vaccine he will be able to visit his mother who lives in a nursing home.

Both Yazel and Boel said they did not feel any pain when the shot was administered. They both will be monitoring themselves for any side effects over the next couple of days. 

Both will be back for the second dose.

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