KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Artifacts from the first COVID-19 vaccines administered at the University of Tennessee Medical Center are being preserved for history.
A team from UT Medical Center delivered Monday a vial and syringe used in the first vaccinations from December at the hospital to the East Tennessee Historical Society.
The syringe holding the Pfizer vaccine was among the first five used at the same time Dec. 17 to vaccine front-line health care workers at the trauma hospital south of Fort Loudoun Lake.
Warren Dokter, executive director of the Historical Society, said it's glad to have the relics and will occupy a place of honor in the collection.
"We have a huge collection of historical artifacts that are related to other pandemics including the Spanish influence in 1918. So here, a hundred years later, this vial, the first vial used here in Knoxville, will enter our collection," he told 10News.
The Historical Society, located on Gay Street downtown, is interested in collecting other pertinent artifacts such as journals, letters or crafts created during the pandemic, which hit in late winter 2020.
Here's more information about how to contact the Historical Society.