Michael McDonald sat in a gray chair dressed in purple scrubs, a gray T-shirt, a blue medical hairnet and a blue medical mask on Tuesday. The room at Catawba Valley Medical Center was silent. Anna Seagle, a registered pharmacist, prepared a needle, then pulled a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from a bottle into the syringe as McDonald watched. He rolled up his sleeve. She wiped his arm, then stuck the needle in. The room erupted in applause and cheers. It was the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine administered in Catawba County. The day was exciting for medical professionals who have been battling the COVID-19 pandemic for months, said Dr. Phil Greene, chief of staff at Catawba Valley Medical Center.