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BOSTON – With Mother’s Day just a week away, U.S. Navy Seaman Christopher Rivas waited patiently, preparing himself for a gift that would make his this particular one special.
The 22-year-old hospitalman, assigned to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), Virginia, a Bostonian himself, hasn’t had the chance to visit friends and family due to time and work constraints both from him and his loved ones.
In the early days of his deployment to the Community Vaccination Center (CVC) at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, he hoped to possibly get the chance to administer the vaccine to his family and friends closest to him, and so he got that wish.
“I recalled the last interview of myself saying I wanted to vaccinate my family and friends who have chosen to receive it,” Rivas said. “When the time comes, I’ll be the first one to ask my leadership to vaccinate those whom I left to serve.”
Rivas got his wish and asked his mother if she was willing and ready to receive it.
“I’m so happy to see my son all grown up now and he’s a Sailor!” Said Chourouk S. Mansora, mother of HN Rivas. “At first I really didn’t want to receive the vaccine, but my son gave me the facts and I did a little bit of research so I decided to come in to get one.”
Rivas left Boston to join the Navy in February 2019. During his enlistment he hasn’t had the chance to visit home due to COVID-19 movement restrictions and was deployed last year.
“I’m a proud mother to have raised my son and to see his work affect other people’s lives in a positive way,” said Mansora
Rivas has been administering an average of four-hundred vaccines a shift.
“I really hope my siblings and friends who currently aren’t vaccinated, will come also,” Rivas said.
According to Rivas chain of command, the unit has a program where Sailors can participate in vaccinating their family members if they decide to visit Boston and want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I’m glad my Sailor had the chance to see and vaccinate his mother,” said U.S. Navy Petty Officer Second Class Aaron Franky, a hospital corpsman assigned to NMCP. “It’s an early Mother’s Day for Rivas and you could see her eyes were glowing with happiness when I met her.”
The Department of Defense team in Boston will be entering its second month of providing vaccinations to the community. The Hynes CVC type-1 site has already exceeded two-hundred fifty thousand vaccinated.
“This has been a truly grateful experience working with the joint task force here in Boston,” said Rivas. “I want to wish an early “Happy Mother’s Day!” to all.”
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2021 11:26 |
| Story ID: | 395400 |
| Location: | BOSTON, MA, US |
| Hometown: | BOSTON, MA, US |
| Hometown: | ROXBURY, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Mother’s Day 2021 arrives early in Boston, by SSG Matthew Lumagui, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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