'That didn't hurt at all!' Acting Defense Secretary Miller is vaccinated against COVID-19

Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller was among the first in the Defense Department to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, bantering with health care workers as he rolled up his sleeve at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

"That didn't hurt at all!" Miller said after getting his shot Monday amid jokes that he might start screaming from pain. 

"I kind of felt odd being one of the first ones" to get the vaccine, Miller told health care workers during his visit, saying that he wanted to lead by example.

The two-shot vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday received FDA emergency-use approval, and the first of the shots were given to Americans on Monday. 

Before sitting down to receive his shot, Miller watched others getting theirs, exchanging jokes – and serious observations about front line medical workers grappling with the coronavirus.

"This is your combat zone," Miller told a physician after she was vaccinated.

"We talk about defending our nation," Miller said. "We're in combat," adding that "we've got to lean in, and lead by example" in getting the vaccine.

Health care workers around the country have been among the first Americans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.