MADISON, Wis. — One year ago, the first COVID-19 shots went into the arms of healthcare workers, marking a milestone in a global pandemic that upended life as we knew it.
"Please get the vaccine. Lets get out of this so we can be normal and no more sick people," UW Health respiratory therapist Tina Schubert said.
UW Health said Schubert was the first in the state to get vaccinated and provided an interview with her reflecting one year later.
"A year later, I'm fine. I'm fine, and there are other people that received the vaccine as well. They're fine," Schubert said. "I just became more empowered and just more strong. I feel like I'm a better therapist now, because I'm doing something right."
"I just remember the feeling of hope, the feeling of an end to this horrific pandemic. I cried when I first got it," said Jodie Gord, a patient care manager in the medical respiratory ICU at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center.
Getting her vaccine last December is fresh in Gord's mind.
"For me, it meant I could see my family. It meant I could hug my nephews," Gord said.
Getting healthcare workers protected was the starting line. The push to get the vaccines into as many arms as possible has continued.
Currently, about 61 percent of Wisconsinites have received at least one dose. A year after their first shots, healthcare workers pleaded for more people to get vaccinated.
"I would have hoped that we would have been much in a better in a much better place at this point. Surely the vaccine is the only way out. I stress that to everybody," Gord said.
Gord went on to say that she has had several patients tell her they wished they or their loved ones got vaccinated.
Schubert, who wanted to inspire people who look like her and her patients in the African American community, got emotional delivering this message.