Fauci just got his COVID-19 vaccine live on TV, saying he feels 'extreme confidence' in the shot to help 'end this pandemic'

• Dr. Anthony Fauci received his first dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday.
• His workplace, the National Institutes of Health, worked with Moderna to produce the shot.
• President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence have already received their first jabs of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who's been leading the US's response to the coronavirus pandemic since March, received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday.

Fauci got his first jab of Moderna's vaccine, which was jointly produced by the pharmaceutical company and his employer, the National Institutes of Health.

Asked why he was getting vaccinated, Fauci said, "I feel extreme confidence in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine."

Moments before he got his shot, Fauci said he would "encourage everyone who has the opportunity to get vaccinated so we can have a veil of protection over this country that would end this pandemic."

The Food and Drug Administration last week granted an emergency use authorization for Moderna's vaccine, which was found to be 95% effective. It's first being rolled out to healthcare workers. Pfizer's vaccine was also found to be 95% effective and was authorized for emergency use on December 11. Both vaccines require two shots.

Fauci will receive his second dose in 28 days.

"What we're seeing now is the culmination of years of research that has led to a phenomenon that's been truly unprecedented," Fauci said on Tuesday.

The public-health expert received his shot on a livestream alongside Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins, and six frontline workers at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President Mike Pence, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams got their first doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in the past week.

Fauci was vaccinated two days before his 80th birthday, which he said he'd be celebrating on Zoom.