The first rounds of the COVID-19 vaccine came to Evangeline Parish and were given to healthcare workers at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Ville Platte and Savoy Medical Center in Mamou. At the Ville Platte hospital, registered nurse Debbie Delafosse was one of the first to get vaccinated. She is pictured in the top photo getting the shot from RN Quality Director Natalie Brignac. “As of Wednesday, the first dose of COVID-19 vaccinations were being administered to Mercy’s frontline healthcare workers,” said Renee Brown, Director of Marketing/Business Development and Physician Recruitment at Mercy Regional. “The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was administered to roughly 50 employees in the first round with the second vaccine dose in 21 days. It is a small victory in hopes of relief since COVID-19’s onset for our community hospital.” Dr. Oscar Rodriguez, SMC Chief of Staff, was one of the first to get vaccinated at the Mamou hospital. He is pictured in the bottom photo as he gets the injection from SMC Education Nurse Janie Berzas. (Photos courtesy of Mercy Regional Medical Center and Savoy Medical Center)