ESCANABA — The first COVID-19 vaccine was administered at OSF HealthCare St. Francis Hospital & Medical Group Thursday afternoon to an emergency room nurse who is on the frontlines of fighting the pandemic in Delta County.

“It just felt like a normal vaccine. Just a tiny little prick. Not much pain,” said RN Sara Kofsky a few minutes after getting the Pfizer vaccine.

Kofsky — who has been a nurse for 42 years, 22 of which have been with OSF — asked to be the first recipient of the vaccine so she could more safely do her job in the ER.

“I’ve been in the ER since 2007, when my dear friend Lisa passed away in the ambulance,” said Kofsky, referencing the collision between an ambulance and a logging truck that killed Lisa Hanson in March of 2007 while she tended to a patient during a transfer to Marquette General Hospital. After the tragedy, Kofsky took Hanson’s place in the ER.

Kofsky has been exposed to people infected with the virus regularly through her role in the ER, but as the oldest nurse currently working in the department, she was at a higher risk of developing a severe case of the disease if she were to be infected.

“I’m very thankful to have received this today. I feel good now that I’m a little bit safer,” she said.

Not all of Kofsky’s reasons for getting the vaccine were about her own wellbeing.

“I wanted to do it because this has just been so devastating to our whole community. I’ve seen loss of life. I want us to get back to normal, I want our business to open, I want our schools to reopen and I want us to try to get back to normal,” she said.

Kofsky had already been chosen to be the first recipient of the vaccine when the first shipment came in Thursday morning. Not long after its delivery, the ultra-cold vaccine was diluted as needed by laboratory technicians. Once the dilution process is complete, the vaccine is stable and usable for injection for about six hours.

Hospital staff eager to witness the historic first dose watched from doorways as RN Andrea Croasdell administered the vaccine. The whole process took a matter of seconds.

“I was a little nervous,” said Croasdell, who has been a nurse for 20 years, of being the first to administer the vaccine at the hospital.

A handful of other OSF staff received the vaccine Thursday. Each person who was vaccinated will be required to get a second shot at a later date.

“I just wanted to show everybody that there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve looked at the science, I trust the science, I just think this is a great tool to help us fight this virus and help us get over this pandemic as soon as we can,” said Kofsky.

As a veteran, Kofsky has received many vaccinations over the course of her life, and while she recognizes there will be some people who are hesitant to get the vaccine when it becomes widely available, she sees the vaccine as an important part of ending the pandemic.

“Some people are going to feel differently about the vaccine, obviously, and I would just urge them to make themselves knowledgable about the vaccine and to make their own decision. We’re a free country, so they can certainly choose to do what they want, but I do believe as a health professional that this is going to be a tool for us to help us fight this deadly virus,” she said.

A few minutes after receiving her first dose of the vaccine, Kofsky was asked how she felt. Her answer showed where her priorities were as a nurse.

“I feel fine. I feel like I have to get back to work here pretty soon,” she said.