As 2020 came to an end, things seemed to turn around with the approval for a covid vaccine. Over the past 10 months, the coronavirus pandemic has flipped our world upside down; killing over a million people, leaving millions unemployed, and everyone unclear about the future. Through the entire pandemic, healthcare workers have been true heroes risking their lives every day to save others. 

When the pandemic first started back in March, scientists knew that a vaccine would be needed for the future. As the pandemic continued to worsen, it became more and more clear that a vaccine needed to be found quickly. Pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and  Moderna got to work, as they tried to create a vaccine that would prevent people from contracting COVID-19. 

Through months of trial and research, the two companies successfully completed the mission and found that using mRNA forces cells in our body to create antibodies against the virus. Once it was tested on humans, researchers found that the vaccines were ninety-five percent effective. The last step that pharmaceutical companies had to complete was getting the vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) in order to vaccinate the general public. 

On December 11, the FDA approved the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine and issued an emergency distribution. The first group of people to receive the vaccine were healthcare workers who have been exposed to the virus for the past 10 months every day. Healthcare workers do not only include nurses but they include doctors, EMTs, nursing home employees. There were millions of people who got vaccinated before the year ended. 

In the state of New Jersey, one of the hardest-hit states in the United States, over 100,000 people have received the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccine in just under three weeks when NJ received the first shipment. In the coming weeks, Governor Murphy plans for those who have received the first dose to receive the second dose and open vaccinations to the general public such as people with previous health conditions. 

The coronavirus will go down in the history books as one of the worst viruses our society has ever seen. Within those pages, it will be the talk of how scientists were able to create a vaccine in such a short amount of time and have such a strong result in fighting the virus.