Healthcare workers at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi should be given their COVID-19 vaccinations in the coming weeks.

The vaccine is making its way across the country and Mississippi had its first round delivered on Monday, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health.

State Health Official Dr. Thomas Dobbs said last week the state had been approved by the federal government for an initial batch of 25,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech. Dobbs, along with State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers, are receiving their vaccinations on Monday afternoon.

The first round of doses will go to the state’s hospitals for health care workers, according to Dobbs. After hospitals, long-term care facilities will be next in line to receive the vaccine in Mississippi.

According to Dr. Bill Henning, Administrator and CEO of BMHNM, the Oxford hospital has not received their vaccines yet, but they will be there potentially by Christmas.

“BMHNM has not yet received our allocation of the vaccine. We anticipate receiving the vaccine in the next 7-10 days,” Henning said in a statement to the EAGLE on Monday. “Once we receive our supply, we anticipate administration of the vaccine shortly afterward. We will follow the State’s guidelines for the administration of the vaccine.”

The vaccine is not expected to become available to the general public, or those without underlying conditions, until sometime next year. Dr. Anthony Fauci stated it could be as early as late March or early April, during a television appearance on Monday.