Cimber Miller receives her first COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday at UnityPoint - Marshalltown.

UnityPoint – Marshalltown health care workers were the first ones to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in town on Wednesday. Front line workers such as those in health care, are the first to receive the vaccine, which is not available to the general public yet.

“This is the light at the end of the tunnel that many across the world have been waiting for,” said UnityPoint Health Chief Clinical Officer David Williams. “We are optimistic that scores of lives will be saved thanks to medical science.”

Five of the recipients – registered nurses Cindy Britson, Monica Davis and Cimber Miller, paramedic Jimmy Hicklin and ARNP Jaren Quigle – said the injection in their arms did not hurt and likened it to a flu shot. They were chosen because they are have the highest risk of exposure.

“I think health care workers should step up and do the right thing, take the lead and make the public feel safe about this,” Hicklin said. “That’s why I’m doing this.”

“I’m just excited to get it,” Davis said. “It’s the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Britson has been eager to receive it because it has been a long time since she has been around her family.

“We didn’t have Easter this last year, we didn’t have Thanksgiving, I haven’t seen any of my grandkids for their birthdays, only because I fear that I may have it and give it to them,” she said.

They were told to watch for some side effects which are similar to ones associated with the flu shot – soreness at the injection site, muscle aches, chills and headaches. They were also told to keep an eye out for fatigue.

“I think there’s been over half a million people vaccinated already with very few severe reactions,” Quigle said. “Maybe a little soreness in my arm, I expect that. After all, my flu vaccine this year made my arm sore, so I’m assuming this will to. But I’ll watch for a fever and such.”

Hicklin said he was not concerned about the side effects at all. Miller researched the vaccine before receiving the shot on Wednesday, went forward with confidence and wanted to reassure Marshalltown residents.

“You know, with this, your body’s been introduced to a new pathogen, so your body’s going to fight it,” she said. “That means you might get a headache, you might get a fever, you might just feel kind of under the weather. But what’s happening is your body is gaining an immunity to this, and that’s normal. It shouldn’t last for long.”

There has been some hesitation about receiving the vaccine, given how quickly it was produced and approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration. The UnityPoint employees were aware of the reservations and the claims surrounding the injections.

At first, Davis and Miller had reservations about getting the vaccine.

“But then with more information coming out about it, and an email that Dr. Lance VanGundy sent out helped,” Miller said. “After looking into things, I had no doubt.”

Miller wanted to research the vaccine on her own, and speak to her fellow nurses.

“I have lots of friends who are nurses – one who’s even a DON in a nursing home, so she’s had a lot of exposure to information,” Miller said. “I did a lot of research about what an actual MRNA vaccination is. After the research, I had no reservations about it at all.”

Hicklin said the only reason he would not have gotten the shot is if he had already had COVID-19. However, his family’s concerns regarding the vaccine prompted him to receive it – to help put their minds at ease.

Quigle had complete trust in the product.

“No, I work in health care, and I trust science,” he said. “I trust the science that developed the vaccine and have read through the literature. It’s safe and effective.”

Now that they have received the first of the two-dose series, they will still follow all of the recommended COVID-19 guidelines. Britson said many people have not received the vaccine yet. Until she gets her second vaccine and is confident the proper antibodies are up and running, she said she does not want to pass it to anybody else.

Quigle knows not enough research has been done to know all of the different ways the COVID-19 virus can spread. Thus, he will continue following the recommendations, and doing whatever else he can do to help get the community through the pandemic.

“I had an antibody test a week ago to see if I could donate plasma,” Quigle said. “I’ve been working with COVID-19 for a year, and I do not have an immunity to COVID, so obviously masks and social distancing work so, yes, I’ll keep doing that. And for the public, we’ve got to continue to be good citizens and model this for the community.”

They all recommend Marshalltown residents get the vaccine.

“I would hope that as many people who are comfortable with it get the vaccine,” Britson said. “I would hope to see this COVID get pushed away, much like polio and measles and some of the other infections that are out there.”

“Let’s get this done and get back to normal,” Quigle said. “I want to spend time with my family who I really haven’t seen in a year.”

UnityPoint anticipates additional doses will be available in the next few weeks.