Health care workers across the nation were among the first Americans to receive the Food and Drug Administration's approved COVID-19 vaccine.
On Friday, the FDA authorized Pfizer’s vaccine to be used for emergency use as COVID case numbers continue to rise. Throughout the United States, the deadly virus has killed more than 300,000 people and has infected more than 16.3 million.
Health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic are now speaking out about the feeling of receiving the vaccine, reported NBC News.
Dr. Gregory Schidmt, an intensive care physician with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, was one of the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.
“The emotional power of this moment is something that we have been anticipating, striving to reach for about 10 months,” he told the outlet. “To be able to take this step feels like a piece of what we all need to do to make our world safe again, to get back to the life where we can see each other’s faces.”
When he arrived to get the vaccine on Monday, the doctor said he almost burst into tears.
He said his message to the public would be: “Trust the science. This vaccine has been developed with care, and it’s been tested extensively.”
Other medical professionals across the nation shared their emotions over the historical experience.
Dr. Mark Conroy, an emergency medicine physician at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, also got the shot.
“The whole experience was really incredible. From the moment I got up in the morning, I was excited about the potential of getting the vaccine,” he said. “This is a great step forward in the treatment and caring for and kind of getting over this pandemic.”
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Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the New York City borough of Queens, was the first person in the United States (outside of those involved with the clinical trials) to get vaccinated.
“I feel hopeful today, relieved,” she said after being inoculated.
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