PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Philadelphia hospitals began the process vaccinating health care workers Wednesday morning, taking an important step forward in the fight against the coronavirus. Einstein Medical Center started administering its first 100 doses at 8 a.m.
Emergency room physician Erica Harris was the first to roll up her sleeve. It's a day says she has been looking forward to.
She says, as a doctor, it is "hugely important" for her to set an example for others, her co-workers, her patients.
"I think that there is a lot of concern about how fast the vaccine was developed and other political and social factors around the vaccine. And I think a lot of people are rightfully concerned," she said. "I too was concerned in the beginning, but as I read more and learned more, I became very comfortable with it."
She said she takes her obligation very seriously.
"The privilege that I have of being one of the first people in line to get the vaccine means that I think I have an obligation to show people my response to it. How I’ve done with it."
So far, so good, she says.
"Physically, I feel great," she said. "I had a little bit of soreness in my arm, pretty much exactly the same way I feel after getting a flu shot."
She says she feels safer -- "that if I do contract COVID at work or anywhere else that I will be safer, I will be less likely to get very seriously ill.”
Related
And she says she will feel even better after getting the second of two doses next month.
She said she hopes many others follow suit, and she suggests people go to their doctors with any concerns they may have about the vaccine.
"Really ask all the questions you need to feel comfortable to make the right decision for yourself," she said.
The coronavirus pandemic has been a difficult period for health care workers, and for everyone, but Harris says the vaccine is the way out.
"This is very, very hopeful. It gave us a lot of belief in brighter days in the future," she said.