WTOC anchor Dawn Baker made headlines when she entered a Covid-19 vaccine trial six months ago, but she didn’t know whether she had received a placebo or the actual vaccine.
On Monday, though, the Savannah, Ga. anchor finally found out: she received the vaccine after all.
“We have good news,” she said doctors told her. “You have received the vaccine. YAY!”
The Savannah, Ga. anchor shared the news on her Facebook page and recounted the experience in an article for the station.
“It’s a tremendous load off my shoulder,” Baker said. “My worst nightmare had been, you know, getting sick, getting someone else sick. And I just feel like I know that we’re not all protected because not everybody is vaccinated, but this makes you feel a little bit better about the situation we’re in. So I just feel so hopeful.”
Baker was one of the 100,000 people who were part of Meridian Clinical Research’s Covid-19 vaccine trial, in which half of the participants received the vaccine. Her involvement in the trial meant she was one of the first in the country to get the vaccination—and as TVSpy reported last July, she was the very first person in the U.S. to receive the first phase three shot.
The entire trial will continue through two years to determine how long the vaccine lasts and how effective it is. Baker now has a 94.5% chance of avoiding contracting the virus, which has as of today killed more than 399,000 people in the U.S. alone.
“I just always feel that if you use your head, follow your heart and if you’re genuine about wanting to help people, God will always make a way,” Baker said about her decision to take part in the trial.