Thrower, a resident at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), administered the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 16 to Ansu Drammeh, a cardiovascular intensive care nurse. The occasion was possible because of a 2019 Oregon law that made the state the first to allow dentists to prescribe and administer vaccines.

Cardiovascular intensive care nurse Ansu Drammeh received an injection of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from dental resident Dr. Ryan Thrower. Image courtesy of OHSU/Fritz Liedtke.

Thrower graduated last spring from the OHSU School of Dentistry, where she received vaccination training, according to the report. Thrower and other OHSU graduates are among the only dentists in Oregon to administer COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers and front-line staff, KGW8 noted.