Norwich — Let the record show that Lino Fernandes, a Norwich man in his 30s who works in Backus Hospital’s environmental services department, received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in southeastern Connecticut.

Fernandes, standing before reporters, TV cameras and microphones gathered in a Backus conference room, got the injection in his right shoulder at 11:43 a.m. Tuesday, the second day of the vaccine’s rollout in Connecticut.

“I believe in God, I believe in science,” Fernandes, a father of four whose family has avoided COVID-19, said, broadly smiling and giving a thumbs-up. “I feel a victory.”

Backus, a member of the Hartford HealthCare network, planned to vaccinate 30 front-line workers Tuesday, the first of more than 200 the hospital expects to inoculate this week. Hundreds more workers will get shots next week and thereafter, according to Donna Handley, president of Backus and Windham hospitals. Windham is scheduled to administer 95 doses Friday.

Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London was expecting a shipment of 60 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday evening and to start vaccinating staff members Wednesday morning. It then expects daily shipments, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“This is a momentous day of hope,” Handley said. “There’s such excitement. Our workers have shown such courage and bravery during this pandemic. ... First our staff, then our community (will receive vaccinations). We’re so excited science is here to protect us.”

Backus’ allotment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was part of the shipment of nearly 2,000 doses Hartford HealthCare received early Monday at Hartford Hospital. Packed in dry ice, the shipment moved to Hartford Hospital’s ultra-cold freezer, and doses were then defrosted and shipped to the system’s other hospitals.

Handley said Backus was not mandating that employees get the vaccine but was “strongly encouraging” it. She said hospital management had communicated the importance of getting safely vaccinated to staff members and plans to deliver the message to the community at a town hall-style meeting.

The vaccinations began with COVID-19 spiking in much of the region.

“Our numbers are the highest they’ve been since the pandemic began,” Handley said, reporting that the hospital was treating 42 COVID-19 patients Tuesday. “It (the vaccine) is just in time.”

Registered nurses Theresa LaLonde of Waterford and Michelle West of Bozrah also got vaccinated Tuesday.

“Why do we want to do this? We want our kids to see smiles again,” LaLonde said, noting that for too long, she’s only been able to share the wrinkles around her eyes when smiling from behind a mask.

“I told my patients I was going to get the vaccine today and I got a thumbs-up,” West said. “I wanted to get it because I’ve seen a lot of people get badly sick and die. The hardest thing is watching them say goodbye to a family member and then say, ‘Don’t let me die.’”

West, a wife and mother of three, said her 9-month-old grandson was born during the pandemic and she’d like him to see “this isn’t normal.”

b.hallenbeck@theday.com