NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On December 16, 2020, the first COVID-19 vaccine was given at Vanderbilt University Medical center.
One year later, the Tennessee Department of Health is celebrating the first anniversary of the first COVID-19 vaccine dose given in the state.
“The bigger thing for me was the sense of accomplishment. And, you know, Vanderbilt took part in some of the vaccine studies,” said Dr. Todd Rice.
Dr. Todd is the medical intensive care unit director at Vanderbilt Medical Center. He said that after months of caring for hundreds of COVID-19 patients per day, the vaccine brought a much-needed sense of relief.
“And I've done a lot of clinical research on COVID. And this was sort of a huge success of the science community and the medical community,” he said.
Just days after the first dose at Vanderbilt, health professionals at the Knox County Health Department began distributing doses.
“It was huge. it was a huge time for us to be able to offer that to the community,” said Dena Mashburn, the Director of Nursing for the Knox County Health Department. "When we look back and think about the changes that have happened, it does feel like a year, and yet it's gone so quickly."
Since December 2020, the Tennessee Department of Health reported that over 8 million shots have been given across the state. They said more than 3 million people are fully vaccinated, at 50.6% of the state. Around 1 million people have also received a booster against COVID-19.
That may seem like a lot, but Dr. Rice says there's still work to do.
“We're just over half of the population that's vaccinated, and we'd obviously like it to be higher than that," he said.
The Tennessee COVID-19 vaccination rate is still below the national average, which is around 61.1% of all people in the country.