By Craig Anderson

DOVER — For Dr. Loan Vu, the mission was simple.

“This is a big day because we want to vaccinate as many veterans as possible and get back to the normal life,” she said during a quick break at the Wilmington Veterans Affairs Medical Center-orchestrated event on Sunday.

“We want to get back to normalcy, so the more quickly we can vaccinate, the quicker we will get back to normal and the faster we get out of the pandemic.”

The Wilmington VA Medical Center’s Chief of Pharmacy, Dr. Vu said she expected up to 550 doses to be administered at the site on Sunday. The VA had a call list if all the scheduled visitors and walk-ins received their shots of Pfizer vaccine and doses remained at the end of the day. Those who did receive shots were scheduled as they left for taking a second dose in 21 days.

The doses were prioritized to veterans age 75 and older, though others with pre-existing health concerns at greater risk for severe COVID-19 issues were taken in as well.

The event was held at the soon to be opened Kent County Community Based Outpatient Clinic at the Old Blue Hen Mall at 655 South Bay Road.

Navy veteran and Laurel resident James West arrived just before 10:30 a.m. and was able to leave by around 11:15 a.m., which included a 15-minute observatory stay after taking his shot.

There were about 45 VA staff members handling nursing, enrollment observation and traffic control, while five pharmacists administered the vaccinations.

“I think they’ve done a very good job in running this and there’s certainly nothing to be irritated about,” Mr. West said.

Mr. West said he gladly made the trip north with snow in the forecast.

“It was my turn,” he said. “The important thing was to get vaccinated for anything that might come down the pike.

“I take it seriously. I haven’t been out of the house in over a month. I went to the grocery store once and wore my mask. I get my chores done around the house and that’s about it.

“I haven’t been to any parties or been around any groups of people.”

For Air Force veteran Leon Battle of Dover, arriving for his vaccination “was an easy choice.

“I believe in preventive shots. I’ve been taking them for 30 years since I’ve been connected with the military (so this is just another one).

“I knew the VA was going to eventually schedule me so I trusted in them to do it.”

A three-year cancer survivor, Air Force veteran Jamie Smalls was taking no chances and was determined to get vaccinated.

“COVID-19 is serious and the vaccination is here and available,” she said. “I got cancer and nobody in my family had it so my luck is something.

“If I can get that I can get anything. There was a bit of a sense of relief (getting the shot), but I know I still have to wait for the second one and wait for the second one to get in my system. I am glad I was able to get it at my age (44) when most people would have to wait.”

The VA administered around 540 doses in Cape May, N.J. on Saturday.