Vaccines a shot in the arm for a state burdened by COVID-19 December 23, 202010:46 am FIRST TO VOLUNTEER: The first to get the Pfizer vaccine at UAMS was medical assistant Yolanda Emery. Bryan Clifton, UAMS Along with the Baby Yoda plush dolls, Gravity Blankets and Ninja Air Fryers loaded on UPS and FedEx planes and trucks this Christmas season was the most desired gift of all: COVID-19 vaccines, from manufacturers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The Pfizer vaccine, shipped in special boxes to keep doses colder than the surface of Mars, was first, arriving in Arkansas on Dec. 14. Like other coveted presents, however, the vaccines were in short supply, so the government, with input by a panel of health experts and the nod from the governor, chose who’d be first in line: health care professionals and others who attend COVID-19 patients and staff and residents of long-term care facilities.