North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum gets first vaccine dose

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Gov. Doug Burgum received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday.

He and his wife, first lady Kathryn Burgum, drove through the Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health vaccination clinic with dozens of others to get their first doses of the Moderna vaccine, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

When vaccines became available in mid-December, Burgum, 64, said he would wait to be vaccinated until the shots were available to his priority group.

COVID-19 vaccines are in limited supply, so North Dakota must prioritize who gets the first doses. The state developed a series of priority phases with the help of a vaccine ethics committee and is now moving into the Phase 1C priority groups. Health care workers, long-term care residents and staff, and older adults were the first to be vaccinated.

Before being vaccinated, the first lady asked her husband if he wanted her to hold his hand. Both said they felt no pain with their shots.

The governor also described vaccination as part of the plan to return to normal life. He said that North Dakota could become one of the first states to reach herd immunity based on vaccination rates and the rate of COVID-19 infection among residents.