
Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor said getting her first dose of the coronavirus vaccine was “bittersweet,” because as she was walking to receive the vaccine, she heard her 27th patient had died from the virus.
“It was very emotional for me to get that vaccine yesterday. And even just thinking about it now, I kind of tear up, because have been waiting for this for a long time. I’ve been on the Covid unit since March, so I’ve been doing it pretty much every day, except for a day off here and there. So I had been looking forward to yesterday for a long time,” Briones-Pryor, a physician at the University of Louisville Health, said to CNN’s Dana Bash.
“I know we still have a hard fight ahead of us. It’s not over, but at least for me this is hope,” she added.
Briones-Pryor said she would not have gotten the vaccine if she didn’t think it was safe and encouraged everyone “to do their part.”
She said that other than her arm being a little sore, she has no side effects.