Is New Jersey ready for the vaccine?

Six New Jersey hospitals will begin administering the new coronavirus vaccine this week. The first in line to be eligible are health care workers and those working in long-term care facilities.

That's great news, if they want to be vaccinated. With the speed with which this vaccine was tested and approved, many people are nervous about getting it and wonder whether it will cause any major side effects.

This is a new type of vaccine, far different than we're used to. The typical flu vaccine introduces a dead version of the virus into your body, which then recognizes when you come into contact with that same virus. When you're injected with the new coronavirus vaccine, messenger RNA carries instructions to the cells on how to make COVID-19 spike proteins. These spike proteins have been shown not to be harmful to humans during clinical trials.

Researchers and medical professionals are calling this new type of vaccine a game-changer. If all goes well, this pandemic will have forced a sped-up advancement in modern medicine. Let's hope that's the way it goes. My daughter is in healthcare in Texas and has not been told yet if she'll be required to take the vaccine. To be honest, I will worry more if she has to take the vaccine than I have with her working at two different hospitals simultaneously throughout this crisis. We know what this virus can do and how dangerous it is or isn't depending mostly on age and health. This vaccine is not only brand new, but a brand-new type of vaccine.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis's own.