Portneuf Medical Center begins administering COVID-19 vaccine in Pocatello

POCATELLO — Registered nurse Bernadette Bradburn became the first Portneuf Medical Center employee to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The first of the vaccinations in Pocatello were administered Thursday. PMC expects to administer more than 450 total vaccines from its first shipment, which arrived this week.

First COVID-19 vaccines administered in eastern Idaho

“This is a historic moment for our organization, for our team members and for the community,” PMC CEO Jordan Herget said in a news release. “Our team members have dedicated themselves to caring for members of our community and we appreciate that they are among the first priority group to receive the protection of the vaccine. While the vaccine may be the beginning of the end of the pandemic, we recognize the toll this disease has had on our team members and community.”

Bradburn, a breast cancer survivor, has been a nurse for 13 years and has spent the last six years at PMC.

PMC is vaccinating only front line employees, per recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This process is expected to take several weeks. The first vaccines in eastern Idaho were giving at Madison Memorial Hosptial in Rexburg on

“Today marks the beginning of the next phase of this pandemic,” PMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dan Snell said in the release. “I am proud and honored to be a part of the PMC team and a member of the Pocatello community. Everyone has been affected, everyone has sacrificed. On behalf of our team, I want to thank you and encourage continued diligence in wearing masks, physical distancing and frequent hand-washing in the weeks and months to come, until most of the population has been vaccinated.”