The New Normal: Lessons learned in the 2 years since 1st COVID-19 vaccine

The injection to Sandra Lindsay's arm at Long Island Jewish Medical Center made her the first American to receive the vaccine outside a clinical trial.

The small dose of mRNA represented a giant leap in efforts to beat back the virus. It was hope amid a time when the U.S. was averaging more than 200,000 new cases and nearly 2,500 deaths each day.

Vaccinations rolled out across the country, with doctors and nurses at hospitals nationwide injecting one another as part of a federal plan to prioritize front-line, health care workers.

Now, two years since that first vaccination, a new study shows the vaccines had a cumulative effect of preventing more than 18 million additional hospitalizations and more than 3 million additional deaths.

The study estimates that the vaccinations were also a good financial bet, saving the U.S. $1.15 trillion in medical costs.

COVID-19 has caused at least 99 million cases and more than 1 million deaths in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

News 12's Elizabeth Hashagen was joined by Dr. Sandra Lindsay, the first person in the U.S. to receive a COVID-19 shot outside of a clinical trial, and Dr. Matthew Harris, the head of the Northwell Health COVID-19 vaccine program.