Dozens of nurses and other emergency personnel are administering the COVID-19 vaccines at the Minneapolis Convention Center, each of them with their own personal story about why they are taking part in the massive effort.
Victoria Vandersteen is a retired nurse who has been traveling the world recently providing nursing education.
"I’ve been to places like Tanzania several times, and Ethiopia, Mongolia and Vietnam and it’s been quite enlightening and a real privilege to be able to work with the other counties and their nursing and physicians and medical students, advancing the practice of health care."
When the pandemic hit, that work stopped, so she began looking for part-time work as she is now going back to school at St Catherine’s University where she is getting a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a focus on the global community.
“Basically, I was called to be my own community activists here in Minnesota,” she said. “This allows me to step up when someone maybe can’t leave the ICU, I can work.”
On a more personal level she feels called to do the work.
“I feel like a conduit for providing hope and wellness for my community, and hopefully it will trickle around globally at some point.”
The job pays some she said, but mostly she’s doing it to give back.