This morning, an intensive care unit nurse in Queens, New York, became the very first person in the U.S. to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccination.
The injection went to Sandra Lindsay, a nurse with the Northwell Long Island Jewish Medical Center. She received it at 9:23 a.m. ET, according to CNN.
“I am hopeful,” Lindsay said. “I feel hopeful today. I am relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history.”
The ICU nurse went on to say she wants “to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe,” adding, “We all need to do our part to put an end to the pandemic.”
Speaking of the shot itself, Lindsay said it “didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) — who initially said he had no interest in allowing New Yorkers access to a federally approved COVID-19 vaccine — praised the Pfizer immunization Sunday, saying, “Hope is on the way.”
He did, however, indicate the country is a long way off from no longer being under the thumb of coronavirus restrictions, the most stringent of which have been implemented by Democrats.
“It’s going to take months before the vaccine hits critical mass,” said Cuomo, who recently shut down all indoor dining at restaurants across New York City. “This is the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a long tunnel.”
President Donald Trump, whose administration paved the way for such a speedy vaccination development with its initiative, Operation Warp Speed, congratulated the country after learning Lindsay had received the first vaccine shot.
The Pfizer vaccine is reportedly 95% effective against COVID infections. The vaccination — stored in sub-zero temperatures — is administrated as two separate shots given 21 days apart.
Pfizer shipped out its first batch Sunday, sending doses to more than 600 sites across the country.