New York ICU Nurse Among First To Receive COVID Vaccine In U.S.

Among the first to receive the vaccine is Sandra Lindsay, a Long Island critical care nurse

After what’s felt like the longest year of our lives, finally, some good news is here — the first COVID-19 vaccines have finally been administered in the United States. Long Island critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay was given the vaccine in New York City this morning, as the promise that healthcare workers and nursing home staff would be among the very first to be inoculated against the deadly virus is fulfilled.

“I feel hopeful today. Relieved,” Lindsay said after receiving the vaccine.

Lindsay, who is a nurse at Northwell Long Island Jewish Medical Center, was vaccinated at 9:23 am this morning during a live-streamed event with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. After she received the shot, Cuomo quipped, “You didn’t even flinch.”

The University of Louisville Hospital in Kentucky received its first delivery of vaccines shortly after, with three doctors and two nurses in line to get the shots first.

I don’t know why watching this video is making me sob my eyes out. I mean, I guess I do. Remember back in March when we were all kind of innocent and just doing puzzles, baking bread, and watching Tiger King and truly had no idea that our lives would be upended for this long? That we would lose so many people we care about? It’s been A Year, to say the least. Of course we’re still a long ways from “normal” as millions of Americans will need the vaccine before we can approach herd immunity, but this is one huge step forward and it’s all because of the scientists and healthcare workers who cared. If that doesn’t make you feel things, I’m not sure what else to say. There’s a light at the end of this tunnel at last.

Other locations in Connecticut, New York, Iowa, Washington, D.C., and Michigan are also expected to administer their first doses of the vaccine today, according to ABC News. Less than a week ago, the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use which led to the pharmaceutical company shipping 2.9 million doses to 636 sites across the country.

The vaccine was produced in conjunction with the German company BioNTech and Pfizer plans to send out a second batch of 2.9 million doses shortly. The first vaccines were distributed in the UK last week. Two doses are required for full immunization.

Pfizer claims after its trials that their vaccine is 95 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. A hearing with the FDA is scheduled for Moderna, which developed an mRNA-based vaccine similar to Pfizer’s. If approved, it could also be given emergency use authorization.