Watch an ICU nurse from New York City receive the first COVID-19 vaccine in the US
- The first person to be publicly vaccinated against the coronavirus in the US was an ICU nurse from Queens, New York.
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo livestreamed the event on Periscope Friday morning.
- "I feel like healing is coming," nurse Sandra Lindsay said after she got her first shot. "I hope this marks the end to a very painful time in our history."
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On Monday morning, Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care unit nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York became the first person in the US to receive a public coronavirus vaccination, when she got her first - of two - Pfizer COVID-19 shot.
"We're here to watch you take the first shot," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said as the vaccination was livestreamed on his Periscope account.
"It didn't feel any different from taking any other vaccine," Lindsay said after Dr. Michelle Chester, director of employee health services at Northwell Health, gave her the jab.
"I feel hopeful today, relieved," Lindsay said. "I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the end to a very painful time in our history."
Shortly after her vaccine was administered, President Donald Trump tweeted "Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!"
—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
Sandra is far from the first person in the US, or the world, to receive Pfizer's shot.
Pfizer has already tested this vaccine out on more than 20,000 people around the world in months of clinical trials, which included thousands of American participants. Then, after the US Food and Drug Administration reviewed safety and efficacy data from those trials, the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for emergency use in the US, on Friday. It has already been authorized for use in the UK, Bahrain, and Canada too.
"I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe," Lindsay added. "We're in a pandemic, and so we all need to do our part."
US cases are rising
The US continues to tally thousands of coronavirus deaths every day, in an outbreak that has spiraled out of control. The virus is among the leading causes of death in the country, with 299,000 lives lost since the pandemic reached the US.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, said recently: "The mortality concerns are real. And I do think unfortunately, before we see February, we could be close to 450,000 Americans [who] have died from this virus."
Dr. Anthony Fauci and other leading health experts have stressed that roughly 70-80% of the population will need to be vaccinated against this virus before proper herd immunity protection from it can be achieved.
"There's light at the end of the tunnel, but we still need to wear our masks, to social distance," Lindsay said.
"As a nurse, my practice is guided by science, and so I trust science. What I dont trust is that if I contract COVID, I don't know how it is going to impact me, or those who I come in contact with, so I encourage everyone to take the vaccine."
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