TUCSON, Ariz. — Tucson Medical Center is celebrating a big milestone. They have distributed over 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
“Hope I was number 100,000 get a free breakfast or something!”
David Lewis says even if his shot didn’t come with a prize, he still feels like a winner.
He’s finally on his way to having some protection and peace of mind during this pandemic.
“Relief, relief, I've had open heart surgery and I have to protect myself,” he said. “Thankful to all the people volunteers doing this so we can be safe and live on.”
Leaders at TMC say they’ve assembled hundreds of volunteers, participated in two mobile clinics, and vaccinated 1,200 people a day at their drive-thru site.
“To get to 100,000 vaccines, meant building a plane while we were flying it,” said COO Mimi Coomler.
Coomler says they are proud to be part of the greater effort to get shots in the arms of people across Pima County. She says more people getting vaccinated means a return to normalcy may only be a few months away.
“In the hospital we are starting to get back to meetings in person and to collaborate in person is so much better than in zoom.”
Lewis says he’s so happy to be one shot closer.
“I just want to feel safe when I go out there, and people feel safe around me. Be able to get back to hugging my grand kids mostly.”
