photo by: Chris Conde

LMH Health is pictured in a file photo from October 2018.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital will begin administering COVID-19 vaccines this afternoon, LMH leaders were told this morning.

The first vaccinations are expected to begin about 1:30 p.m. at the hospital, but members of the general public shouldn’t travel to the hospital expecting to get a vaccination.

The first vaccinations will be limited to health care workers and first responders. Members of the general public will be notified in the coming weeks or months when vaccinations are available for them.

Hospital leaders at a board of trustees meeting Wednesday morning confirmed the hospital received about 800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which was about 175 doses more than they had expected.

However, hospital leaders noted even that level will not be enough to immediately provide vaccinations for all health care and first responders. Board members, though, were told the Wednesday arrival of the vaccine was momentous nonetheless.

“It is a super important day for our community,” LMH Health President and CEO Russ Johnson said. “Maybe it is the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light is still small and the tunnel is still long.”

Local health care leaders haven’t provided an estimate of how long it may take to provide vaccinations to all Douglas County residents, but the vaccination program is expected to take several months to complete.