Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York City, was vaccinated during a live video event at 9:20 a.m. Monday. The presentation was made by Dr. Michael Chester, Corporate Director of Employee Health Services at Northwell Health.
“She has good communication and it doesn’t feel any different than taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said immediately.
“I am fine. I would like to thank all the leading staff and my colleagues who have done a leading job in combating this epidemic around the world,” he said. “I feel optimistic and relieved today. I feel healed. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of the most painful time in our history.”
Chester said the vaccine kit for administering the shot “worked just fine”. Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health on stage with two black women, Lindsay and Chester, said the regional hospital system had seen 100,000 patients with Covid-19.
The vaccine is definitely higher than the index. With the shot and the second dose in 21 days, Lindsay can visit family, friends, colleagues and patients very safely. Soon, millions of Americans too.
“It’s a special moment, a special day,” Dowling said. “This is what everyone is waiting for.”
States starting vaccinations today
However, Lindsay was one of the first recipients of the vaccine, approved by the FDA for emergency use, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for administering it to people 16 and older.
The first batch of the vaccine was shipped Sunday from a Pfizer plant in Portage, Michigan, to more than 600 sites in all 50 states. The first deliveries arrived Monday morning at the University of Michigan, George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C. and many more.
State and local authorities make their own decisions about who gets vaccinated and when. Leading health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities are recommended by the CDC to be vaccinated first.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azhar plans to see some of the leading health workers vaccinated at George Washington Hospital, he told NBC’s Savannah Kudry “today”.
“If you are recommended to get it, if you get it, oh, please get it. Protect yourself, protect those around you. Please get vaccinated,” Azhar said.
The arrival of the vaccine comes at a crucial time. The United States says more than 109,000 people have been hospitalized with Covit-19 as of Sunday, the highest number of infections and more than 100,000 have been hospitalized for the 12th day in a row due to the deadly virus.
CNN’s Ben Tinker contributed to the report.