NEW YORK — The first New Yorker received a COVID-19 vaccination Monday morning.
Critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens got what New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the first shot given in the state's campaign to vaccinate front line health care workers.
"We trust science here in New York. The federal government approved the vaccine. We then had a separate panel that also approved the vaccine and we've been following the science all along. I hope this gives you, and the healthcare workers who are battling this every day, a sense of security and safety and a little more confidence in doing your job once the second vaccine has been administered. In New York we prioritized healthcare workers at the top of the list to receive the vaccine, because we know that you are out there every day putting your lives in danger for the rest of us, so we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep you safe. And the point about New Yorkers and Americans having to do their part and take the vaccine, because the vaccine only works if the American people take it," said Gov. Cuomo.
Nurse Sandra Lindsay said after receiving the vacccine, "Governor Cuomo, I'm feeling well. I would like to thank all the frontline workers, all my colleagues, who've been doing a yeoman's job throughout this this pandemic all over the world. I am hopeful. I feel I hope today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming and this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We're in a pandemic and so we all need to do your part to put an end to the pandemic, and to not give up so soon. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we still need to continue to wear our masks, to social distance. I believe in science. As a nurse, my practice is guided by science and so I trust that. What I don't trust is that, if I contract COVID, I don't know how it would impact or those who I come in contact with, so I encourage everyone to take the vaccine."
The largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history is underway with health workers getting the first shots. "Relieved” is the reaction of one of the first health workers to get the shot Monday.
Hospitals are rolling out the first small shipments, as boxes of precious frozen vials arrive at locations around the country. The injections begin what will be the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history to try to beat back the coronavirus — a day of hope amid grief as the nation's death roll nears a staggering 300,000.
How well initial vaccinations go will help reassure a wary public when it's their turn sometime next year.