BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Hospital administrators were delighted Tuesday when a shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine arrived unexpectedly. 

Vaccine doses were anticipated, but Flaget Memorial Hospital President Jennifer Nolan said she received no advance notice about the impending arrival. 

“We had a box that said 'COVID-19,' and we wanted to confirm it was the vaccine. We called our pharmacist, several of us rushed down to open the box to confirm what it was," Nolan said.

The hospital president immediately began preparations to vaccinate several hospital staffers on Tuesday. A hospital chaplain led a short prayer before the first shots were given in front of a small group of staff and journalists. 

“Today we gratefully receive this gift of a vaccine to help protect us. We ask your blessing, Father, on this vaccine," the chaplain prayed.

Hospitalist Dr. Jim Nuss was the first Flaget doctor to receive the vaccine shortly after 3 p.m. 

Shelia Downs was second in line. Downs was named "Hospital Employee of the Year" in November but says getting the vaccine ranks above that. She has grandchildren in Connecticut she hasn't seen in months. 

"A lot of people I know, they are against taking the vaccine but, you know, if we want to make some normalcy in our lives we’ve got to do this," Downs said.

Flaget Memorial is expecting to eventually receive enough vaccines to protect all of its 500 employees. 

“Our team has really worked together, even today to pull this off as quickly has we did, to be able to have folks lined up... and over the next couple of weeks so we can get all of our staff vaccinated," Nolan said. “We knew it was coming but for it to really be here, it’s special.”