Penrose Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center start vaccination clinics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Vaccination clinics opened today at several Centura facilities across Colorado, including Penrose Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center. Those centers opened roughly around 12 p.m.

Tuesday, Centura Health received its first vaccine shipments. Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, part of Centura Health, received 1,950 Pfizer vaccines initially. 

Dr. Kimberly Dulaney, a cardiologist at Penrose Hospital, was one of the first few front-line healthcare workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

"It's just been so somber and sad since March," said Dulaney, but now, she says the Pfizer vaccine is changing things. "It is mostly just a huge sense of relief, and to just start thinking about things getting back to normal and just being really excited for the rest of the world to get back to normal."

Centura plans to administer the Pfizer vaccine within 72 hours of receiving it. That’s the timeframe Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants healthcare providers to abide by.

The frontline workers who have received the initial dose are currently treating COVID-19 patients. They'll get their second and final dose in 21 days.