First St. Louis-area COVID-19 vaccine doses administered. Hope kindled for region |

Boyer didn’t know she would get the vaccine until she arrived at work that morning, she said. She was often afraid to go into work in the early days of the pandemic and said lately her unit has seen more critically ill patients with COVID-19 than ever before. 

“I still get scared,” she said.

Boyer said she hopes everyone will get vaccinated when they can, to take the stress off hospital units like hers that have been at or near capacity around St. Louis for weeks. 

“I can kind of see a light at the end of the tunnel now,” she said.

Mercy Hospital St. Louis, in Creve Coeur, also aimed to vaccinate about 72 employees Monday afternoon.

Teri Montgomery sat in the observation area after she received her vaccination on Monday afternoon at Mercy St. Louis. As a respiratory therapist, Montgomery performs some of the highest-risk procedures in COVID-19 care, like intubations.

“This is not going away anytime soon, this virus, and it’s not even slowing down. So something’s got to be done,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery said she had COVID-19 in September, with a headache, fever, fatigue and a dry cough. Every day while she was sick, she hoped she wouldn’t end up like her most severe patients, on a ventilator.