Vials of the COVID-19 vaccine have begun distribution throughout Orange County’s MemorialCare health care system, giving hope to COVID-19 frontline workers. “This vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel for all of us,” Dr. Hubert Wong, Orange Coast Medical Center’s first doctor to receive the vaccine, said in a press release. “I can’t wait for everyone to return to a state of normalcy.” MemorialCare announced the immunizations Dec. 21, saying two of its hospitals—Orange Coast in Fountain Valley and Saddleback Memorial Center in Laguna Hills—administered their first COVID-19 vaccinations last week. Intensive care unit (ICU) nurse Brenda Acosta was among those to receive an injection. “I’m excited and hopeful,” she said. “I’m looking forward to a safer future for all of us.” The vaccinations come as Southern California hospitals struggle with record-level hospitalizations amid the surging COVID-19 pandemic. Orange County recorded 4,606 new cases Dec. 21, and …