Proclaiming the “beginning of the end of COVID-19,” Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday announced the arrival of the first vaccines proven effective against the disease even as the country passed a grim milestone – reaching a total of 300,000 lives lost.

“Today is the most exciting day that I’ve had, I think that we as a commonwealth have had, since March 6, when we had our first diagnosed COVID case,” Beshear said. “Today marks the beginning of the end of COVID-19. We are going to defeat this virus in 2021. This is a moment that we have hoped for and prayed for. The effectiveness of this Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine that’s going to follow is nothing short of a modern medical miracle.”

However, Beshear also warned the public against becoming too complacent as the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine – 975 of which were delivered to The Medical Center at Bowling Green on Monday – begin to roll out at hospitals and long-term care facilities across the state.

“This ought to give us our second wind to fight so much harder,” Beshear said.

Beshear reported 1,802 new coronavirus cases Monday and 17 deaths. The state’s positivity rate was up slightly at 8.58%.

In Warren County – where Beshear said there were 53 new cases – Med Center Health President and CEO Connie Smith welcomed the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine, which has been shown to be 95% effective against COVID-19.

“In what will forever be remembered as a monumental event in our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Medical Center is honored to have been selected to be one of the first hospitals in Kentucky to receive an allocation of the initial Pfizer vaccine,” Smith said in a news release.

“We have seen first-hand the impact of this devastating virus on our patients, physicians and health care workers – as well as the community. Now is not the time to let our guard down. While the arrival of the vaccine is a game-changer in the fight against this pandemic, we recognize that the delivery of subsequent vaccines for the general public will take time over several months. We all must continue to wear a mask, practice proper hygiene and keep socially distant. Let’s finish this together!”

Immediately after receiving the vaccine, Med Center Health set to work administering doses to its front-line health care workers – the first of which was Dr. William Moss, medical director of The Medical Center’s Emergency Department.

Moss described his experience getting the vaccine as “euphoric” and straightforward. Moss said he has “great confidence” in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. He urged the public to avoid consuming vaccine information on social media because of the prevalence of false or misleading information. Instead, people should consult with their physicians or reputable scientific journals, he said.

“I requested to be first because I wanted to show my confidence in this” vaccine, Moss said, calling the scientific work behind getting a vaccine in record time “science at its best.”

Locally, the Barren River District Health Department announced Monday a total of 16,213 cases, 13,457 of which have recovered since the start of the pandemic. There have been 196 deaths reported from COVID-19 in the department’s eight-county region.

The breakdown of recovered/deaths/total cases is Barren: 2,025, 30, 2,310; Butler: 571, 16, 700; Edmonson: 409, 13, 486; Hart: 928, 8, 1,124; Logan: 1,214, 37, 1,452; Metcalfe: 397, 5, 501; Simpson: 727, 9, 987; Warren: 7,186, 78, 8,653.

In Allen County, the local health department reported 24 additional cases since its last update Friday. The county has had a total of 911 cases reported since the start of the pandemic. Currently, 797 cases have fully recovered and are off quarantine with 97 active cases in quarantine at this time either at home or hospitalized.

The department’s report included an additional death over the weekend, bringing the new total in Allen County to 17 deaths.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @NewsByAaron or visit bgdaily news.com.