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Five things to know about COVID-19 in the Chattanooga region for the week ending Dec. 18

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Deborah Deal, RN, Chief Nursing Executive gives Dr. Winfred Manta, Intensive Care Physician a vaccination. Parkridge Medical Center began COVID-19 vaccinations today. Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Deborah Deal, RN, Chief Nursing Executive gives Dr. Winfred Manta, Intensive Care Physician a vaccination. Parkridge Medical Center began COVID-19 vaccinations today.

By Wyatt Massey December 18, 2020 4 min read

Every week, the Times Free Press will publish five crucial things to know about the coronavirus pandemic in the Chattanooga region. For more updated case count numbers and other data related to Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, visit timesfreepress.com/virus/.

Five things to know about COVID-19 in the Chattanooga region for the week ending Dec. 18.

1. Chattanooga health care workers among first Tennesseans vaccinated against COVID-19: A box filled with 975 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in Hamilton County this week.

Why it matters: On Thursday, health care workers at Chattanooga’s three hospitals received doses of the recently approved COVID-19 vaccine. The remedy comes as Hamilton County faces the worst phase of the pandemic so far. “It’s very humbling just to think about what we’ve been through as a nation, what we’ve lost and to finally have an opportunity to start to begin to see that light at the end of the tunnel,” said one local health care provider.