Published: 1/14/2021 1:29:54 PM AMHERST — Before a syringe containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was administered to Amherst Fire Chief Walter “Tim” Nelson this week, competition likely occurred among the department’s firefighter/ EMTs to deliver the shot. “I think there may have been a pool from my guys to see who could stick the needle in me,” Nelson said, chuckling about that possibility moments after he received the injection from Fire Capt. Steven Chandler at the first responders vaccination clinic set up at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst. But joking aside, Nelson said the weeklong delivery of vaccines to first responders throughout the region in Amherst, at the Northampton Senior Center and on the University of Massachusetts campus, which comes after initial vaccinations given at hospitals, nursing homes and extended care facilities, is a critical step in ending the pandemic.