A nurse in Queens on Monday morning became the first person to receive the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine, in a moment of extraordinary optimism after a devastating year.
After battling the corona virus for more than nine months and working tirelessly to save lives, high-risk physicians and nurses who treat patients directly infected with the virus will receive the first Pfizer vaccine outside of clinical trials, which arrived in the state this morning.
Sandra Lindsay, a prominent care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Glen Oaks, rolled up her sleeve and received a shot on live television.
“It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said.
Lindsay has been treating patients with the corona virus since the outbreak began in New York.
“I feel like healing is coming,” Lindsay said. “I hope this marks the beginning of the most painful time in our history. I want to build public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We are in an epidemic, so we must all do our part to end the epidemic. I believe in science. As a nurse, my practice is guided by science, So I believe in science. What I do not believe is that if I contract Govt I do not know if it will affect me or who I am. “
“It’s the light of the end of the tunnel, but it’s a long tunnel.
“I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you are doing,” Guomo told Lindsay. “When they use the word heroes, we don’t mean it lightly; we mean it deeply and honestly. What you show every day is, you’re really heroes.”
Dr. Yves Troso, head of emergency medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, was the second New Yorker to get a shot within two hours of Lindsay.
“Today is an important day of hope, and this is what is going to take us,” Troso said. “Everyone was waiting for this day; this day could not have come sooner.”
Troso, who has been at the forefront of treating patients for months, shared how the virus has personally affected his life and urged Americans to continue to take safety precautions.
“Unfortunately, I had someone I lost in my family, my dear uncle. Someone is currently in the hospital, a family member, so it continues, the only way to prevent this is through vaccination,” Yves said. “We cannot continue to kill 3,000 people a day. It must be stopped.”
President Donald Trump tweeted shortly after Lindsay was given the first shot.
The first vaccine is administered. Congratulations America! Congratulations world!
– Donald J. Trump (realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
And health workers will be vaccinated throughout the day. New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi told a news conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday morning that the vaccine will arrive at five hospitals in the city today and at two more hospitals on Tuesday 37 and Wednesday.
“The vaccine will be delivered from this day forward, the vaccine will be distributed from this day forward, and we will change the tide of the corona virus,” De Blasio said. “Today is the day to celebrate.”
“When I saw the needle go into the hands of the nurses, I felt this well-being of hope, the wonderful feeling that we were really turning the corner, that it was really here,” de Blasio added, explaining how he felt when he saw this moment.
In addition to health workers, nursing home staff and residents top the list for vaccination.
New York City is currently preparing to acquire and manage 465,000 levels over the next three weeks.
The plan is to give doses first to those at risk of contracting the virus. The health commissioner said he was hopeful that by early 2021, there would be enough vaccine supply to expand the circle to start giving footage to residents in 27 neighborhoods that have been severely affected by the corona virus.
The city’s Vaccine Command Center opens simultaneously Monday to ensure all aspects of the vaccine are covered.
“The city has never seen this much effort,” Deputy Mayor Melanie Hardzack told NY1 in an exclusive interview.
From distribution and storage to data collection and real-time adjustment – the center manages vaccination efforts. It is a joint venture between the Department of Health and the City Health + Hospitals, as well as the Department of Education and all city organizations such as NYCHA.
“What we don’t do is wait for planning. So we’re testing all of our distribution efforts, and we’m thinking very critically about how we are using all of our operations, including Test & TraceCorps, which is now at the peak of the epidemic and is a trusted partner in the community.”
As the first doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are administered in New York, the city’s vaccination command center opens simultaneously Monday to ensure all aspects of the vaccine are covered. “The city has never seen this much effort,” said Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzak. pic.twitter.com/6XynIK9Mwj
– Spectrum News NY1 (NY1) December 14, 2020
The command center ensures equality in vaccinations and transparency with the public.
“We are going to start working with communities to ensure that communities are comfortable around vaccinating. There is a lot of misinformation out there, ”Hardzack said.
The Command Center is tapping the city’s task force on ethnicity and equality to address inequalities and meet the needs of those most affected by the corona virus.