Symbolic choices for first five to receive Covid-19 vaccine

A Roseland Community Hospital doctor proudly displays his vaccination card alongside his name tag after getting his Covid-19 jab. — AFP

The 975 coveted doses of the Covid-19 vaccine that arrived with a police escort on Dec 18 (2020) created a new challenge for Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, United States, in a year that has been overrun by them.

Like other medical centres across the US in recent days, Roseland was tasked with deciding which of its hundreds of employees – for reasons both practical and symbolic – would be the first to get the injection they’ve all needed since the pandemic began.