HARLINGEN — Sylvia Hernandez doesn’t like shots.
She doesn’t like COVID–19 either, so she showed up Wednesday morning to get her first Pfizer vaccine.
“I have experienced COVID, and they say the shot is similar to the symptoms,” said Hernandez, 56, who waited outside the Harlingen campus of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
She and her husband Danny had both had the virus, and they don’t want it again.
“It was bad enough that they wanted to drop me off at the emergency room,” Hernandez said. “But I chose to be at home and here I am.”
Almost 1,000 people had signed up for the vaccine Wednesday, and nurses from the UTRGV School of Nursing were on hand to help out.
“It feels awesome,” said Frankie Perez, 24, who is in the bachelor of science in nursing program at UTRGV.
“We’ve been waiting for over a year now to be a part of this,” Perez said. “We’ve been asking to be part of the action and the opportunity finally presented itself and we’re finally here.”
Fellow nursing students Komal Mohan and Emily Jimenez also appreciated the opportunity.
“We’re part of this community and we’ve been waiting for a year,” said Mohan, 22. “There are a lot of people here this morning for their first dose, and they’ve been waiting for a while.”
Jimenez, 21, said she was “doing a little bit of everything,” for the vaccination clinic.
“I’m actually the one handing out the vaccination cards, but I’ve done every station,” she said. “I feel very excited. This is a historic moment for the community, in the U.S., everywhere.”
The nursing students were crucial to the successful operations of the clinic, said Dr. Linda Nelson, senior director of clinical operations for the UTRGV School of Medicine.
“Let me just say we couldn’t do it without the nursing students and they’ve been a wonderful addition to my vaccination team,” Nelson said. “They’re so energetic and interested in helping, and they are so gracious to give their Spring Break time. The turnout today is wonderful.”
Jose Borjon, 34, traveled from Washington, D.C., to get his first shot.
“I’m a registered Texan,” he said. “I vote here, I live here, I pay taxes here. I thought it was the right thing to do to be down here and get vaccinated, so I appreciate everything that the people are doing.”
