COVID Vaccine: New York Health Care Workers Feeling Good After State's 1st Shots
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Medical professionals who are on the front lines of the pandemic are now at the front line receiving the COVID vaccine.
CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas takes a look at how some of the first recipients are doing.
It was the shot seen around the world. Monday, at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, nurse Sandra Lindsay was at the forefront of the historic COVID vaccine distribution in the United States.
WATCH: New York Nurse Sandra Lindsay Receives 1st COVID-19 Vaccine
Dr. Yves Duroseau, emergency medicine chair at Lenox Hill Hospital, was not far behind.
Tuesday, CBS This Morning checked in to see how they're feeling.
"Just a little minor soreness at the site of the injection. Otherwise I don't feel feverish, no aches and pains. Everything is feeling great," Dr. Duroseau said.
"This morning I took my temperature for the hell of it," Lindsay said, adding that it was 98.1.
That's good, and expected, news. This after personally witnessing so much pain at the hands of the deadly virus.
"I cheered because I felt a huge sense of relief, not just for myself but healthcare workers, essential workers and everyone who has been doing a yeoman's job with putting an end to this pandemic," Lindsay said.
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Data analyst Evan Fein, 32, has been living with that relief for nearly five months. He participated in the phase one clinical trial of the Pfizer vaccine at NYU back in July.
"I feel a lot more secure in my everyday life. I still have to take the basic safety precautions that are recommended," Fein said.
He received the first dose on July 1, and the second one on July 22.
"After the first one I felt a little bit tired. After the second one I did have a fever, muscle ache. Then it came and went," he said.
"How did you weigh the risks of doing this?" Cline-Thomas asked.
"I had an opportunity to protect myself and my parents from COVID-19. And the risks just seem very minimal to me," he said.
After a battery of follow-up tests and weekly journal entries to monitor how he feels, Fein still shows no adverse effects.
Because of the success of the clinical trials, frontline workers across the country are now lining up for the vaccine.
"This may actually help us in the future with the development of vaccinations," Dr. Duroseau said.
Both said Tuesday the discomfort level in their arm was a one out of 10.
"The science is behind this vaccination, that this is a new technology," Duroseau added. "It's a different technology that required eggs to grow the vaccinations, and that's why it actually came about more quickly and more efficiently."
A medical breakthrough, happening right before our eyes.
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