The biggest vaccination drive in American history got underway on Monday as health care workers started receiving COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, providing a glimpse of hope as the nation nears the grim milestone of 300,000 coronavirus deaths.
A nurse in New York City was among the first people to receive the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday morning.
"I feel hopeful today," said Sandra Lindsay, the critical care nurse at New York's Long Island Jewish Medical Center, as Governor Andrew Cuomo watched via livestream.
The news comes as the United States approaches 300,000 deaths from COVID-19.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said he would be among those getting a vaccine. "People will believe much more in the vaccine if the CEO is getting vaccinated," he said Monday on CNN.
The first trucks carrying the COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the US pulled out of a Pfitzer manufacturing plant in Michigan on Sunday, en route to 636 predetermined locations, amid a botched government response that has made the US the worst-hit country in the world.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorisation to the vaccine on Friday, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted on Saturday to recommend it for people age 16 and older in the US.
With the winter holidays still ahead, experts warn that the pandemic could continue to get worse before the larger public receives the vaccination.
Under Operation Warp Speed, a total of 636 hospitals and clinics across the states will receive the vaccine this upcoming week.