boston medical center

The United States is dealing with two conflicting emotions right now. On one hand, the first COVID-19 vaccines are being administered across the country this week, mostly to frontline medical personnel.

However, on the other hand, the number of infections in the country continues to grow to a record high with over 238,000 new cases reported on Thursday. And it's going to be more than a few months until we see a significant decline in infections caused by widespread vaccinations.

This week, thousands of frontline workers in hospitals breathed a sigh of relief when they received the vaccine. It has had to be traumatizing to go into work every day knowing you were always at risk of becoming infected with COVID-19.

A study out of the U.S. and the UK found that "frontline health care workers had a nearly 12-times higher risk of testing positive for COVID-19 compared with individuals in the general community."

Frontline workers at Boston Medical Center celebrated the vaccine by dancing in the streets to Lizzo's "Good as Hell."

And do your hair toss

Check my nails

Baby how you feelin'?

Feeling good as hell

The BMC staff strutted their stuff on the sidewalk while still wearing their masks face shields and gowns. A clip of the video was shared on social media by BMC president Kate Walsh.

"Why I love my job!" Walsh wrote. "Teams of people working to safely and equitably distribute vaccines to their front line colleagues getting cheered on by their friends celebrating the arrival of the vaccines! A great day, a great place."

According to Boston.com, the hospital received 1,950 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday and began giving its employees jabs on Wednesday.

On Monday, New York City critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay became the first American to get Pfizer's vaccine outside of a clinical trial. After getting the shot, she wanted to let everyone know that there's nothing to fear. "I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe," she said.

Although healthcare works seem like they'd be the least likely to be hesitant about getting a vaccine, there are still some who are skeptical of the shot. A recent survey of physicians in the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City found that 60% of doctors in the network and about half of the nonphysicians were enthusiastic about the vaccine.

"It's going to be a marathon," Susan Mashni, head of the vaccine distribution task force at Mount Sinai, said according to Buzzfeed. "If folks don't feel comfortable right now, hopefully, they'll come back and feel comfortable with some time."

To make healthcare providers everywhere feel safer about getting the shot, frontline workers have been posting photos of them getting vaccinated on social media under #IGotTheShot. Hopefully, this will encourage those on the frontlines to get the shot as well as countless Americans who are on the fence about rolling up their sleeves.