BOSTON (AP/WHDH) — A longtime employee at a state hospital became the first state employee in Massachusetts to receive the COVID-19 vaccine Friday.

Sophal “Paula” Soth, the janitorial supervisor at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, was given the shot at the hospital where she has worked for 30 years.

The facility is a teaching hospital located in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood that serves a large number of economically disadvantaged patients.

State officials have said they expect to receive 300,000 doses of the vaccine before the end of December. The first phase of vaccinations in the state will target health care workers, emergency responders and residents in long-term care facilities.

Earlier in the week, 96-year-old Margaret Klessens, a World War II veteran in Bedford, was among the first VA patients in the country to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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