Never has a holiday package been more anticipated.听

On Tuesday morning, a box no bigger than a coffee maker arrived via UPS at the 石榴视频黄色版. Inside were 4,875 tiny purple-topped doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, a product that received emergency-use authorization by the U.S. government just four days prior.

Jason Mills, Pharm.D., pharmacy supply chain manager for MUSC, signed for the package as a representative from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked on. Once opened, Mills and Heather Easterling, Pharm.D., system administrator of pharmacy services at MUSC, had exactly three minutes to extricate them from the packaging and get them into the Sanyo Ultra Low Freezer.

鈥淣o pressure,鈥� Mills joked as he and Easterling donned bright blue cryogenic gloves, a necessity when dealing with a substance that needs to be kept at -92 Fahrenheit to remain viable for an extended length of time.听

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Once inside the freezer, the daunting task begins of earmarking and divvying up where each shipment of vaccine will go 鈥� MUSC has four locations in the Charleston area and four regional sites 鈥� before sending them out the door via courier to be dispersed.听

Two blocks away on Ehrhardt Street, Shemika Champion, R.N., a pediatric nurse at MUSC Children's Health, readied herself to be the first care team member vaccinated.听

鈥淲hen we were told we鈥檇 be able to sign up, I was a little hesitant at first, to be honest. But I had to think of myself as a health care professional and what this would mean to my patients,鈥� she said.听

The mother of three boys also thought about what it would mean to her family.

鈥淚 told my kids I was getting the vaccine today, and they were really excited about mommy being the start of a new beginning,鈥� she said.

Champion was joined by MUSC pharmacists, physicians, nurses 鈥� anyone who touches patients at the health system was eligible to be vaccinated in the first wave 鈥� all lining up for their turn in what would no doubt be an historic moment in the United States, affectionately termed V-Day.

MUSC infectious disease expert Krutika Kuppalli, M.D., one of the more than 600 employees scheduled to be vaccinated on day one, beamed.听

鈥淭o use the words of Tony Fauci, 鈥楾he cavalry is coming,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭his is very exciting.鈥�

Kuppalli and Danielle Scheurer, M.D.,听MUSC Health System chief quality officer, are two of the key leaders overseeing vaccine rollout logistics. They both knew how important it was for them to be out there from the start, not only from an organizational standpoint but effectively to put their money where their mouths are and get vaccinated themselves.

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鈥淚t鈥檚 a whole new era,鈥� Scheurer said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had many hopeful messages since January. It鈥檚 been almost an entire year since something really good has happened in this country. You keep hearing, 鈥榃e鈥檙e out of beds. We鈥檙e out of ventilators. There are so many deaths.鈥� The reality has been so grim. And finally, there鈥檚 a ray of hope.鈥澨�

MUSC Health nurse Metzfe Dela Rama, R.N., was one of the first people to sign up on the MUSC intranet site.听

鈥淭his is really important,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not just doing this because of my job; I鈥檓 doing it for me, for my boyfriend鈥檚 parents. It鈥檚 just the responsible thing to do.鈥澨�

Scheurer expects the initial delivery of nearly 5,000 doses to be completely administered by the first of next week. Though it was an exciting day, Kuppalli and Scheurer both reiterated that it doesn鈥檛 stop the need for us as a society to keep doing what we鈥檝e been doing 鈥� wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding large crowds.听

鈥淏ut that said, people need to understand that these are really good vaccines,鈥� Scheurer said. 鈥淭hese are better than flu, measles, mumps. These are stunningly effective vaccines. Finally, something good has come out of 2020.鈥�