If you are unsure about whether you'll be vaccinated for COVID-19, you are not alone. It's natural to have reservations about something so new.

Dr. Ivan Porter II, a Mayo Clinic nephrologist, was among the first to roll up his sleeves to be vaccinated for COVID-19 at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Dr. Porter says that he hopes others who are eligible will be inspired to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

“Seeing people that we know and people that we trust, and people that we care about, being vaccinated will hopefully make us all feel more comfortable about being vaccinated. We still have to continue the long, hard, arduous work that we've been doing for months until we get to a point where we're in a much better place."

Watch: Dr. Ivan Porter talks about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Journalists: Sound bites and b-roll video are available in the downloads at the bottom of the post. Please "Courtesy: Ivan Porter II, M.D./Nephrology/Mayo Clinic."

Dr. Porter says front-line workers who work in emergency departments and ICUs, and directly care for patients with COVID-19, will now be able to work with a little less fear of becoming seriously ill with the virus. He says there are many other health care workers who also need to get vaccinated. 

"There are multiple specialties that deal with patients who have COVID-19 that we may not think of that are in that front line. Anyone can be infected with this virus and be infectious because of the virus, and thus place everyone at risk. The only way that we'll be able to make progress is for us to be able to widely administer this vaccine."

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is one part of the solution to end the pandemic. Dr. Porter says it's important to continue the recommended intervention strategies.

"We've got to continue to mask. We've got to continue to social distance, and we have to continue to pay attention to the things for basic disease prevention that have allowed us to do as well as we have done," says Dr. Porter.

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Information in this post was accurate at the time of its posting. Due to the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific understanding, along with guidelines and recommendations, may have changed since the original publication date. 

For more information and all your COVID-19 coverage, go to the Mayo Clinic News Network and mayoclinic.org.

Learn more about: Tracking COVID-19 and COVID-19 trends.

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