L-R: Dannae Anderson, Dr. Thomas Faag, Emily Christensen, Hannah Promes, Rochelle Guess, Kelli Farley and Denise Promes. Photo courtesy of Greene Co Medical Center

Greene County has received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Greene County Public Health Director Becky Wolf confirms to Raccoon Valley Radio the shipment of 300 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived Tuesday. She says the initial doses will be given to the first phase of the priority population, which includes county healthcare workers and nursing home residents. Greene County Medical Center CEO Tracy Warner explains the hospital’s plan to distribute the vaccine to its employees.

“We have stratified systems identified frontline healthcare workers who have been offered the education and some of which have chosen to consent to receiving the vaccine.”

Wolf notes that this vaccine requires two separate doses. After someone receives the first dose, the second one is administered 28 days later. She adds, possible reactions to the vaccine include localized pain to the injection site, along with tenderness and swelling, and redness. The general side effects are fatigue, headaches, muscle and joint pain, chills, nausea and vomiting, and a fever.