WyoRadio’s Tom Ellis receives first dose of Pfizer vaccine

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Wyo4News Photo | Tyler Johnson

Tyler Johnson, [email protected]

ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING (February 3, 2021) – On Wednesday, WyoRadio’s Tom Ellis and his wife Kathy received their first dose of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine at the Sweetwater Events Complex.

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Ellis said he didn’t feel a thing when the nurse administered the vaccine and has no side effects.

Both Ellis and his wife are 75 years old and are qualified for the vaccine under the Phase 1B category.

They are both scheduled to receive their second dose of the vaccine on Thursday, Feb. 25.

When Ellis made the appointments, he called every 30 minutes, beginning at 8 a.m. The lines were busy, but he was finally able to get ahold of someone around 10:30 a.m. at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, which is helping with the scheduling of appointments.

“Don’t give up. Just keep going,” Ellis said.

He and his wife had to fill out a consent form, which included basic questions about their age and gender. They were also asked if they had any previous issues with vaccinations, if they received a different vaccine in the last week or so and if they had any allergies.

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After receiving the vaccination, the nurse told Ellis that his arm might become stiff for a little while.

To schedule appointments with Sweetwater County Public Health, call 307-922-5390, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until appointments are full.

Castle Rock Medical Center is also offering limited appoints for February. Call 307-872-4590 for appointments and details.

People under the Phase 1A and Phase 1B categories include:

Phase 1A

  • Hospital staff – direct inpatient care staff and emergency department (ED) staff, including providers working temporarily at the hospital.
  • EMS personnel/fire department. Personnel who are EMTs
  • Long-term care facility (LTCF)/assisted living facility (ALF) healthcare providers (HCPs)
  • Public health nursing (PHN) staff and other HCPs administering vaccines to critical populations in Phase 1a.
  • Tribal public health and HCPs – receiving vaccine through Indian Health Services
  • PHNs and HCPs who regularly conduct COVID sample collection.
  • Inpatient/residential behavioral health facility HCPs
  • Urgent care clinics and other medical clinics
  • Law enforcement – patrol officers and correctional facility officers (city, county, state and federal); coroners and deputy coroners.
  • Licensed/credentialed medical and dental direct care staff working in other locations who have regular exposure to potentially positive COVID-19 patients or infectious material.
  • PHN offices and local health departments – nurses and staff.
  • LTCF and AF residents and other staff not already vaccinated; intermediate care facility staff and residents; residential service settings for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities of 3 or more developmental disability waiver participants (Participants and direct support professionals).
  • Home health healthcare providers – including aging network in-home providers.
  • School nurses.
  • Wyoming Public Health Laboratory and other clinical lab staff conduction COVID-19 testing if not included above; blood bank employees.
  • Pharmacy staff.
  • Other healthcare facility staff – ancillary support staff who have regular exposure to potentially positive COVID-19 patents or infectious material, including supporting staff from out of state.

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Phase 1B

  • Fire, police, 911, correctional staff, search and rescue, and other in-person emergency response personnel not included in Phase 1a (including ancillary support for air ambulance and hospitals and Department of Family Services caseworkers)
  • Funeral service practitioners and in-person employees necessary for funerals.
  • People who are 65 years of age and older, and those with pre-existing health conditions. If necessary, populations may be broken down to vaccinate those who are 80 years of age and older first.
  • National Guard and Air Guard members likely to be activated for response to the pandemic.
  • In-person employees within congregate settings such as group homes, halfway houses, homeless shelters, child and youth serving facilities.
  • Healthcare providers, behavioral health providers, and social workers unable to physically distance and unable to provide services through tele-health. Healthcare facility surveyor/compliance evaluator and ombudsmen.
  • K-12 education (teachers and support staff).
  • Child care service providers.
  • Public transit employees – community transportation buses.
  • Grocery store employees, commercial meat processing employees, feedlot employees, other food supply chain facility employees, and food manufacturing companies with 25 or more employees.
  • US Postal Service employees and delivery service companies (such as FedEx and UP) likely to have more than 15 minutes of exposure to members of the public; clinical laboratory specimen courier employees.

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