Doña Ana County sheriff’s deputies, police officers are getting vaccine; call it ‘quick and easy’

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- Christmas came early for law enforcement officers across Doña Ana County.

"It was quick and easy," said Lt. Jason Gleason, who has served with the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office for 14 years. "Painless."

He received the first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

"You're still alive and you didn't cry!" joked a Memorial Medical Center nurse recording cell phone video of the shot.

The Doña Ana County sheriff said she will "sleep a lot better at night" knowing her frontline officers are protected with the Covid-19 vaccine.

"We've been given an opportunity to be first in line and we're definitely seizing that opportunity," said Sheriff Kim Stewart, who received the vaccine on Tuesday.

Out of the 200 members of command and support staff in the sheriff's department, Sheriff Stewart said a total of 16 had contracted Covid-19 so far during the pandemic. However, she told ABC-7 that the cases were isolated.

"There was no community spread within the department," Sheriff Stewart said. "Very early on, we started taking this seriously."

"After 15 minutes in the waiting room, I'm back ready to hit the street," said Lt. Gleason.

A spokesman for the Las Cruces Police Department said Wednesday was the first day vaccinations became available for law enforcement within the city.