Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NATCHEZ — As doses of the Moderna version of the COVID-19 vaccine made it to Adams County, first responders were among the first in line to receive shots.

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford, Natchez Police Chief Joseph Daughtry, Commander Justin Jones with the Natchez Police Department, Sam Minor with EMA operations, and Adams County fire coordinator Darryl Smith each held up their sleeves triumphantly at the Adams County Health Department on Monday morning as they received their injections.

They were the first City of Natchez and Adams County employees to receive the vaccine, Bradford said.

As she prepared the vaccine Monday, Michelle Humes, RN, said approximately 50 doses of the vaccine would be given to frontline healthcare workers and first responders.

Officials of the Mississippi State Department of Health said other doses of the vaccine had been distributed to area hospitals, clinics and nursing homes for healthcare workers and nursing home residents but are the vaccine is not yet available to the general population.

The Moderna vaccine is currently one of only two types of vaccinations recommended for use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, Merit Health Natchez received 150 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the other type of vaccine approved by the CDC.

Both vaccinations require two shots that are administered 21 to 28 days apart, according to the CDC website.