Staff photo / Ed Run yan Anthea Mickens, director of nursing for the Youngstown City Health District, gives Youngstown Fire Chief Barry Finley a Moderna COVID-19 vaccination Wednesday at the main fire station, along with other members of his department and personnel from the AMR ambulance compan

YOUNGSTOWN — About 40 people — some from the Youngstown Fire Department and some from AMR ambulance company — were vaccinated Wednesday against COVID-19 by the Youngstown City Health District.

The health district received 900 doses of the Moderna vaccine, health Commissioner Erin Bishop said. Those vaccinated at the main Youngstown fire station were the first to get the vaccines from the city health district.

About 35 members of the fire department trained in emergency medical services received the vaccinations. The rest were to be administered to ambulance workers.

Fire Chief Barry Finley offered up his arm first. Youngstown Mayor Jamael “Tito” Brown videotaped the first few vaccinations and offered commentary on a social media page.

“I’m proud of my guys, the 34 who stepped up to be first,” Finley said. “We can’t protect if we can’t get protected.”

Finley said he was feeling no side effects from the vaccination.

Likewise, Ed Powers, regional director of AMR ambulance, said he was feeling no side effects, even though side effects such as soreness at the injection site and headache are not unusual for vaccinations in general.

He said his company has benefited from the vaccinations because of the staffing challenges AMR has had from employees testing positive for the virus.

“If you get the vaccine, it reduces your fear level, knowing that the vaccine is building immunity to keep you from getting sick,” he said. “It builds a hedge of protection around you.”

Despite AMR employees coming into contact with people with COVID-19 in their jobs, he said the rate of infection for AMR’S 38,000 employees nationwide is below 2 percent. He said he attributes that to AMR employees “being educated about the virus” and using personal protective equipment “to protect ourselves and our patients.”

They are screened regularly and have their own rapid testing machine that can provide highly accurate test results in 15 minutes. The testing tells the company when someone is positive for the virus and can get an employee back to work in less time because they can be tested to determine when it is safe.

Today, the Youngstown City Health District will vaccinate people with developmental disabilities who stay at congregate facilities. Those people are already preregistered, Bishop said. Many of them are clients of Gateways to Better Living.

Next week, the health department will vaccinate people at facilities such as residential group homes, recovery houses and mental health facilities, Bishop said.

erunyan@tribtoday.com