AUSTIN, Texas — Health care workers across the country are receiving the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week, a welcome development in the COVID-19 pandemic that has had medical centers and hospitals overwhelmed for months. 

“It’s been very challenging," said Michelle Nelson, a 24-year-old ICU nurse at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin. 

She's been a nurse for just under three years, but already she’s been through one of the most challenging times of her career. Working in the ICU, she's been treating patients with the most severe COVID-19 cases. 

“We went from having a handful of patients to overflowing our COVID ICU on two different floors," said Nelson. "I would walk down the hallways and put people on ventilators and help my colleagues and just to see how sick, everybody was getting it was, it was terrifying.”

She witnessed heartbreaking moments she says she wouldn’t have gotten through without the love and support of her coworkers. 

“Patients were dying and their family couldn't be there. We came up with a lot of ways to try to kind of mitigate that pain for everybody and we would use zoom calls. You know, me and my colleagues would sit in the patients' rooms and hold their hands while they took their last breath and moments like that were really really hard.”

Out of an abundance of caution, Nelson says she hasn't been able to see her family in months. As shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine make their way to hospitals and medical centers around the country, Nelson is breathing a sigh of relief.

“It feels like such a light at the end of the tunnel. And this isn't the end but it definitely feels like a glimmer of hope that we haven't had this whole time," said Nelson. 

On Thursday, she was one of the first to receive the vaccine. Along with immunity, she got another little souvenir-- a sticker that says "I got my COVID-19 vaccine." 

“I’m gonna keep it there forever," said Nelson. 

But it also serves as a reminder of what she’s seen and been through. 

“It was really scary and every day I woke up and didn't take it for granted, and I never questioned the seriousness of the virus," said Nelson. 

Most of all, she’s just grateful to be part of the first wave to receive the vaccine, so she can continue doing her job. 

“It’s doing it for the patients that we've lost and the patients that I want to protect from me as well," said Nelson. "I mean just proud to, you know, be a part of it and, and hopefully be part of what's going to be the end of this pandemic.”

She says she already has the date she's due to get the second dose of the vaccine in her phone, and she couldn't be more excited. 

She's ready to be fully immunized so she can continue doing her very important job, with some peace of mind.