Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse received the first injection. (Figurative)
NY:
A nurse in New York became the first person in the United States to receive the coronavirus vaccine on Monday.
Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, received the Pfizer-BioNTech shot live on television shortly before 9:30 am (1430 GMT).
“First vaccine administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!” President Donald Trump tweeted.
Lindsay said the prick “felt no different from taking any other vaccine.”
“I feel great. I feel relieved,” she said.
“I hope 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 are in a pandemic, so we all need to do our part,” added Lindsay.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, watching the historic moment via video link, told Lindsay that he hoped the vaccine would give her and other frontline healthcare workers “a sense of security and protection.”
“It will be months before the vaccine reaches a critical mass. So this is the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is a long tunnel,” he said, reminding people to follow social distancing guidelines.
COVID-19 has devastated the United States.
More than 299,000 Americans have died from the virus, including more than 35,000 New York state residents.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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