Darcy Craven, Archbold president and CEO, gets his COVID-19 vaccine Friday afternoon.

THOMASVILLE — The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered to Archbold Memorial Hospital employees Friday afternoon, with those on the very front lines of the pandemic getting the first needles in their arms.

Stacy Wheeler, a registered nurse, was the first in line to receive a dose. What the hospital terms as Tier 1 employees, including those in the emergency room, medical surgery, intensive care unit and respiratory therapy, were the initial employees to receive the vaccine.

“Today is just our first trial run,’ said Archbold president and CEO Darcy Craven. “We have a small amount of doses that we got.”

Craven said the hospital expects to get another 1,000 doses early next week, as the Pfizer vaccine ships in allotment of 975 doses. The Moderna vaccine is expected to ship sometime next week.

Friday’s vaccination was 200 doses.

“We should get quite a bit going forward,” Craven said. “We should almost receive shipments on a weekly basis.”

Craven said the hospital is excited to be getting its vaccine does.

“The last 10 months, across the world and not just in the United States, has been very trying for hospitals and medical professionals,” he said. “Our goal now is to be the front line of getting vaccinated and make sure the public sees us getting vaccinated so that they know we believe the vaccine is safe and we need people to take the vaccine so we can get rid of COVID in our communities.”

Craven pointed out that until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization declare the COVID-19 pandemic over, it is still important to wear masks in public and maintain social distance. Masks and social distancing still will be required in the hospital, he said.

He also rolled up his sleeve to take the shot in his left arm.

“As the leader of the organization and as one fo the community leaders, it’s important for people to see me take the vaccine,” he said.

In his walks around the hospital, there have been people hesitant to take the vaccine, Craven said. 

“it’s important for them to see me and the medical staff take the vaccine,” he said. “This gives them more confidence to take the vaccine themselves.”