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One of the first shipments of the new Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus vaccine to arrive in the U.S. was successfully delivered to Wake Forest Baptist Health Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Monday. The report confirmed by NBC News came an hour prior to the first person in the nation being inoculated with the first dose.
Sandra Lindsay, the director of critical care at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the Queens borough of New York City was the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. She received the vaccine just after 9 a.m. ET on Monday as NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo watched the historic event via live stream.
“The person who is going to take the first vaccine in the state of New York, maybe the first vaccine shot in the United States, Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse, it’s a pleasure to be with you. And you are in Long Island Jewish Medical Center, which is in Queens. Good things come from Queens,” Cuomo said.
New York has been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic with over 781,000 cases and 38,198 deaths as of Sunday (12/13).
About five minutes after Lindsay received the shot, President Donald Trump tweeted “First Vaccine Administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!” The comments by Trump are some of the first about the vaccine over the past month as the President and his campaign have fought several unsuccessful court battles over the claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Trump initially said the White House staff would be some of the first to receive the vaccination, but later recanted his statement.
About 145 sites around the country will receive the first wave of vaccines on Monday. A majority of the vaccines will be distributed to those at-risk of contracting the virus including nursing home residents and front-line medical workers.
First shipment of Coronavirus vaccine arrives in North Carolina was originally published on wbt.com
