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Cora Witt stared straight ahead as a health care worker rolled up her sleeve and inserted the cold needle into her arm.

It didn’t hurt at all, she said.

Witt was one of 38 residents and 15 staff and caregivers who received the first round of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine Friday afternoon at Rose Mary C. Brooks Place. Round 2 in a couple of weeks should be 95 percent effective protection against COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus that began in China in 2019 and has become a global epidemic.

Assisted living residents and staff are among the first group to get the first vaccine for the virus through Walgreens and CVS.

At Brooks Place, it was Walgreens employees who administered the shots.

Tim Janes, executive director of the assisted living center, set an example by being the first in line. He said he was “so excited” to get the vaccine.

By getting most of the residents and staff vaccinated, he said, “we can start getting on the other side of this pandemic” and return to “normal life” to the extent possible.

Janes said Brooks Place has been successful in keeping the virus out of the assisted living home. Only one employee has tested positive for the virus since March, and that person has recovered. No residents have had it.

“We’ve been very fortunate at Brooks Place, and we want that to continue,” he said.

Janes said there has been a “high acceptance” of the vaccine among residents and staff, and he’s happy about that.

“They want to get there as much as we do so we can have some normal activities, normal events and visits with families. We’ll be kind of returning to those on a gradual basis, safely and securely,” he said. “That’s certainly the hope and the goal.”