Dr. Marina Del Rios, an ambulance at the University of Illinois Health, called it a “relief.”
She was one of the original five who volunteered for the vaccination at Loretto Hospital in Chicago last month.
WATCH: 1st COVID-19 vaccines administered in Chicago
Del Rios said she did it for her family and those in her community who were reluctant to get vaccinated. The completion of her vaccination gives her optimism.
“I hope this year is a start for better things,” said Rios.
The event at the Norwegian American Hospital on Tuesday morning was an attempt to highlight the importance of people coming back for a second dose in order to make the vaccine fully effective.
Health experts say the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will not be fully effective without the second dose.
Both vaccination events took place in hospitals that serve the communities hardest hit by COVID-19. This served to increase vaccination rates among Black and Latinx residents. Del Rios said there is still a lot of work to be done to convince those who are skeptical that the vaccine is safe.
“It was also a little disappointing and disappointing to see even health care providers stepping back and saying, ‘You know what? I’ll wait,'” said Del Rios.
“In Black and Latinx healthcare in particular, not that many people come up and say, ‘I want to get the vaccine,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago Department of Health.
As the city continues its first phase of rollout, vaccinating frontline health workers, Mayor Lightfoot had a message to President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden that the current distribution of vaccines is insufficient.
“If you want us to turn the corner and give people confidence that they can get back to normal lives, the amount of vaccines available to cities across the country must grow exponentially,” said Mayor Lightfoot.
Chicago hospitals are being asked to step back and give the workers who originally received the vaccine one more chance to be vaccinated.
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