BATON ROUGE - As COVID-19 continues to grip the nation in a deadly resurgence, hospitals like Baton Rouge General are anxious to begin administering Pfizer's COVID vaccine to local citizens as quickly as possible.

Of course, before health care workers can do this, the potentially life-saving vaccines must first be delivered to the hospital.

Fortunately, these deliveries are expected to arrive as early as Monday, Dec. 14.

A total of 39,000 doses are expected to make their way to Louisiana during this initial delivery, 1,400 of which will go to Baton Rouge General.

The state will next receive a secondary shipment of 40,000 doses.

First in line to receive the inoculations are hospital and EMS workers. Shortly after this, firefighters, police officers, nursing home employees, and patients are scheduled to be immunized.

Health experts expect herd immunity to take place by Fall of 2021.

That said, some members of the general public have expressed concerns related to the vaccine's safety.

These fears were magnified when two patients in the United Kingdom fell ill after receiving the vaccination.

Raneesha Ford, Director of Pharmacy Services at Baton Rouge General addressed these concerns during an interview with WBRZ.

"I trust the vaccine," Ford said. "I believe that with any vaccine there are potential side effects. And each individual reacts differently. From my knowledge, the individuals in the UK who did have severe allergic reactions already had a history of having allergic reactions. So for individuals who potentially have allergic reactions to vaccines then, yes we want to be a bit more cautious. I think as we receive more information then we'll be able to determine what those areas to be cautious in are."

Ford also encouraged locals to prepare to receive the vaccine saying, "But for right now I strongly encourage our Baton Rouge community to receive the vaccine." 

Health officials in the United Kingdom reported that the patients who became ill after the vaccine was administered have recovered. 

Click here for more information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Pfizer's vaccine.