Within the last two weeks, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer was cleared for use by the FDA and initial doses were shipped out across the US. This week, healthcare workers in hospitals, care homes, and nursing homes across West Virginia began receiving the first dose of the two dose vaccine. The vaccine was shown to be 95% effective in trials according to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Pfizer said that they will have many millions more doses of vaccine produced and ready to go come the new year. While of course front line workers and at risk groups will receive the vaccine first, there is a promising possibility the general public could get vaccinated before summer of 2021.

These developments bring a light at the end of this horrible tunnel, and put all of us a step closer to returning to every day life. While we certainly aren’t out of the woods yet, of course, this could be the hope many needed as the situation has worsened slightly over recent weeks.