The first non-clinical trial doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine have begun to be administered in the United States. According to CNN, critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay was the first to be given the vaccine. Lindsay works at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York City. “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming,” she said, after receiving the dose. “I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our country.”
Lindsay went on to say, “I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We’re in a pandemic and so we all need to do our part to put an end to the pandemic, and to not give up so soon. There’s light at the end of the tunnel but we still need to continue to wear our mask, 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 will impact me or those who I come in contact with. So I encourage everyone to take the vaccine.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
A critical care nurse was the first person in New York and among the first people in the US to get a shot of the coronavirus vaccine authorized by the FDA https://t.co/9ohJ9C0bSG pic.twitter.com/0FPJV0W0tV
— CNN (@CNN) December 14, 2020
The vaccine will continue to roll out to other states, with Kentucky being one of the next. In a statement shared with the public on Sunday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear praise the vaccine, and shared details of the distribution plan for his state. “The Pfizer vaccine, which we believe to be 95% effective, has now been authorized in this emergency for us to start vaccinating individuals,” said Beshear.
“The vaccine started to be shipped from the factory and a significant portion landed in Kentucky today,” he went on to say. “Kentucky is going to play a major role in getting this vaccine to people all over the eastern United States through UPS’ Worldport. We in the commonwealth are excited to be a big part of defeating this virus all over this country. We now believe that the first individuals will be vaccinated here in the commonwealth tomorrow morning. We are less than 24 hours away from the beginning of the end of this virus.”
