Van Horn, Texas (December 24, 2020) – The first group of COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Culberson Hospital to help protect its workers from the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading throughout the county. The first shipments are reserved for frontline health care workers and for people in nursing home care facilities. Among the first to be vaccinated were local medical providers at Culberson Hospital, Dr. David Cummings and Gilda Morales. They received the first of two rounds of vaccines just before Christmas Day and will receive the second round in about four weeks.
“Over the million or so people that have been vaccinated in the country so far, very few have shown an adverse reaction to the vaccine, and those who do have a reaction have only have mild side effects.” says Dr. Cummings, he adds “The mild side effects that some people have are generally from the body’s immune response and it is not because they have injected a ‘live virus’ into the body.” Some of the side effects are pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, and fever. The side effects generally last for no more than a few days.
“It’s a much better alternative to contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” says Gilda Morales, Nurse Practitioner at Culberson Hospital, she continues, “the vaccine ‘instructs’ the body how to fight the COVID-19 virus, so if you contract the virus later, your body will already have the information it needs to fight the virus.”
“The community getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is absolutely the best way for an eventual return to normal life.” says Rick Gray, Administrator at Culberson Hospital, “The first round of vaccines were given to 20 people so far, including hospital and clinic staff, EMS and law enforcement. We hope to deliver the vaccine to the rest of the community soon.”
As future rounds of vaccines become available, Culberson Hospital will let the public know who in the community will be able to get their vaccinations. Follow Culberson Hospital on Facebook for the most up-to-date information.
