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It was like a scene from a movie. In North Dakota, health care workers lifted a bag of dry ice covering one of the state’s first shipments of the coronavirus vaccine and a cloud filled the room. The strict guidelines governing the vaccine’s storage make even opening the box a complex and time-sensitive process.

In New Orleans, an inpatient pharmacist became the first person in Louisiana to administer the vaccine — a career highlight.

While these health care workers were excited that the vaccine had finally arrived, the mood was tempered by a bleak fact: The battle against the coronavirus is not yet over.

On today’s episode, we hear from health care workers in two hard-hit states about their hopes and fears for the coming months.