Hundreds of sites are now set up across the state to help more New Yorkers get a COVID-19 vaccine when they're eligible.

One of those sites is Rockland County's Department of Health.

Nurse practitioner Julie Krauchuk was the first person to get a COVID-19 vaccine at the Health Department office.

"We're all so thrilled to be at this point. That we have something that's going to prevent what's been causing so much distress not only here in Rockland County and New York state but the world," she says.

As a front-liner and nurse practitioner, Krauchuk will also be administering doses at Pomona for anyone who's eligible - including her colleagues.

About two dozen of the county's Department of Health clinical staff rolled up their sleeves to get the vaccine.

"Providing vaccinations to our clinical staff, who will in turn vaccinate eligible individuals, is the very beginning of the end of this pandemic," says Rockland County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert.

After a dark year that saw hundreds of Rockland residents die from the coronavirus, the Health Department is hoping to be the shot in the arm the county needs for a brighter future.

The county says it will soon be releasing operations times and days, adding thatt it will include weekends and evenings. People will have to be eligible to get the vaccine.