The New York Police Department had already vaccinated about 400 of their members by just after 7 a.m. ET Monday morning, on the first day the group became eligible, the NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told CNN affiliate NY1 Monday.
"We were ready to go, we’ve been ready to go for some time, it’s very welcomed news that finally the officers and detectives and everyone else can get that protection they need," Shea said Monday.
He described members as "definitely eager to get it" adding "at the same time …we’re New Yorkers, so you know everything that you see in the general population you see with us, and there’s also some hesitancy I’m sure."
"I think it’s going to take some momentum" he said, adding that as more people get it and do not experience side effects it should ramp up across the board.
Shea contracted the virus Friday and has been working remotely.
He told NY1 via a phone interview "I’m doing ok," adding "myself and a lot of other officers unfortunately and new Yorkers have contracted this."
"We’ll get through it," he continued.
Shea described his symptoms as akin to a "bad flu, the chills the aches, the breathing is the one you got to be careful with," he said adding he is "recovering at home" and looking forward to "getting back to work soon."