Albany – Monday marked a new era in the fight against the corona virus novel, as hospital staff in New York and the metropolitan area are among the first in the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The first New Yorker – and the first person in the United States – was vaccinated at 9:23 a.m. Monday. Sandra Lindsay, a nurse working in the Queens Intensive Care Unit, was hired by the government’s Andrew M. The first of two Pfizer-produced footage was presented on a live website hosted on Kumo’s website.
“It doesn’t feel any different than taking any other vaccine,” he said.
About six hours later, Cynthia Tangsley, a clerk in the emergency room at Albany Medical Center, rolled up her sleeve to receive what is believed to be the capital region’s first corona virus vaccine.
“Painless” is the word for Tongsley, who has worked at Albany Medal for 41 years.
“It was great,” he said. “It’s not painful.”
Albany Medical Center Hospital on Monday afternoon administered nearly 1,000 doses of the corona virus vaccine to leading staff such as Tanksley. Area Nursing Homes is expected to receive the first dose of the vaccine on December 21 or more, officials announced last week.
“This is a historic moment for the region and the Albany Med,” said Dennis McKenna, president and CEO of Albany Med. “Don’t fool yourself: there is still a huge amount of work to be done. But looking back at history to this day in global epidemics, we can say that this is the beginning of the end of the capital region.”
Albany Med has so far received 975 doses of Pfizer-Bioendech vaccine, and the first batch goes to employees working in high-risk organizations for viral transmission, such as the emergency department and intensive care unit, said Dr. Fred Wendy, director general of the hospital organization.
The initial batch takes a few days to administer the vaccines, he said. Employees receiving a shot this week should receive a booster shot 21 days after the first dose for the vaccine to become fully effective.
“There is some immunity after dose one,” said Anthony D’Spirito, director of Albany Med Pharmacy. “But really when it’s after two doses, and then full immunity is found.”
Albany Med expects to receive another shipment of “first dose” vaccines within the next 21 days, Wendy said.
The hospital will not make it mandatory for staff to be vaccinated, he said. Sent a survey of hospital staff to find out their attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 80 percent of the approximately 1,100 respondents said they were comfortable getting it. Albany Med has about 10,000 employees, of which 6,000 work in leading medical organizations.
“The vaccine has been determined to be safe and effective by the FDA and CDC,” McKenna said. “While this is not mandatory, staff are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated.”
Even after vaccination, Albany Medil will continue with safety precautions and COVID-19 protocols, including masking, social exclusion, hand washing and visitor restrictions, he said.
Related: Vaccine Questions:
Where to test
The hospital began strategizing its vaccine roll in September, McKenna said. An interim committee led by Albany Medical College’s Alton March Bioethics Institute developed guidelines for prioritization based on state recommendations, he said.
“The first place you go is obviously the places where workers are most at risk,” McKenna said. “They will be places like the emergency department and our intensive care units, and then our units will be on the treatment sites for COVID patients. It’s easy, but it’s more complicated because you have to prioritize the members you work with, they may be at higher risk based on peer diseases or risk factors. It’s an incredibly complex job and we hope we can roll it all out as quickly as possible. “
Dr. Greg Wu, an emergency physician who has been treating COVID-19 patients since the onset of the infection, was one of the first Albany Med staff to be vaccinated on Monday. He felt only a pinch, he said – “like any other vaccine.”
“I enjoy caring for patients – both COVID and non-COVID in a safe fashion,” he said.
Other capital regional hospitals did not respond directly to Times Union questions on Monday, saying they were expected to receive the first vaccines. When asked if Albany Med would become a distribution center for vaccines in the region, McKenna did not respond directly, but he pointed it out.
“Albany Med wants to lead by example, and Govt is sure to play an even broader role in the weeks and months when it comes to vaccine distribution,” he told reporters on Monday. “We’ll talk more about that in the near future.”
It is planned to receive 170,000 initial Pfizer vaccines in New York, all of which will go to nursing home residents and staff and leading health workers. Since there was Pfizer treatment last week, thousands of alternative moderna vaccines will be shipped to New York once approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The first vaccinations began Monday across the country, with other news outlets reporting the first in New York.
Despite the vaccine being on hand, the COVID-19 infection is not yet over.
“The vaccine is just a few months away from hitting the complex mass,” Cuomo said Monday. “So this is the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a long tunnel. People have to do the right thing and the smartest thing constantly during the holidays.”
New York’s corona virus positive rate rose to 5 percent last month, a drop from less than 1 percent a month in late summer. Cumo said hospital admissions and deaths are on the rise again, and he expects cases to continue to rise throughout the next month as a result of increased socialization over the holidays.
The governor estimated that 75 to 85 percent of the general population would have been vaccinated – enough to return to pre – COVID levels.
Queen Nurse Lindsay, who received the state’s first shot, believes the science behind the vaccine is inspiring and encourages public confidence in the process.
Albany Med leaders echoed that sentiment and urged the public to help keep the virus at bay and hospitalized.
“Just as we worked together to defeat the corona virus by social dissociation and washing hands by wearing masks, we must continue to work together to overcome it at this new stage … All of you can play an incredibly important role in getting vaccinated” Please help, “said McKenna.
See more at the Times Union Corona Virus page or subscribe to our newsletter