Health care workers around the country receive COVID-19 vaccines

FOX 29's Dawn Timmeney has the latest on the vaccine rollout across the country.

PHILADELPHIA - Health care workers around the country are rolling up their sleeves for the first COVID-19 shots as hope that an all-out vaccination effort can defeat the coronavirus.

"I'm an emergency room physician, so the frontline is a pretty uncomfortable place the last six months," Dr. Marna Greenberg said.

Uncomfortable and scary courtesy of COVID and that's why Dr. Greenberg of Lehigh Valley Health Network wanted to participate in Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine trial back in the fall.

"You have a 50/50 chance of getting a placebo, so 50/50 is still better than that in the trenches without, which is nothing," she said.

It's a 24-month blind study so Dr. Greenberg, who is also VP of Research at LVHN, doesn't know if she got the vaccine but is excited to play a role in its development.

"We've held the hands of people who died," she explained. "It's very real, and this gives us our best "shot" no pun intended to be able to curtail that disaster from continuing."

Frontline workers among the first to get Pfizer's vaccine, including those at AtlanticCare in Atlantic City.

The FDA is expected to give Moderna emergency approval for its vaccine this week.

Willingboro native Guy Weston was part of its vaccine trial at George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C. and is passionate about his participation,

"We're not going to get out of it without treatment. Treatment requires research which requires clinical trials," he said. "It's also important to have diversity in clinical trials and they were particularly recruiting diverse groups of people, so I wanted to help in that way."

He's hoping to be an example to others to get vaccinated.

"Life has changed so much in so many unprecedented ways without this kind of hope, we have no hope."

Lehigh Valley Health Network frontline workers are expected to start getting the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday weather permitting.

___

RELATED COVERAGE:

Gov. Murphy confirms NJ's first COVID-19 vaccines to be given Tuesday

Vaccine allergic reactions are rare and short-lived, experts say

US surpasses 300,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins

Philadelphia hospitals receive first doses of Pfizer vaccine Monday

____

For the latest local news, sports and weather, download the FOX 29 News app.

DOWNLOAD: FOX 29 NEWS APP