'The Vaccine Is Safe,' Says First American To Get The Pfizer Dose

ACROSS AMERICA — The first American to receive the coronavirus vaccine wants people to know it is safe.

That person is Sandra Lindsay, the director of patient care service at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, according to her LinkedIn profile. She said taking the vaccine, developed by the American pharmaceutical Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, on Monday morning felt much like taking other vaccines.

"It didn't feel any different from taking any other vaccine," Lindsay said.

Lindsay and health care workers in various states began receiving the vaccine Monday. Her historic vaccination was noted by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who broadcast the moment live.

"You stepped up every day to serve others, and you did it magnificently well," Cuomo told Lindsay and her colleagues via a broadcasted teleconference call.

Cuomo referred to the coronavirus pandemic as a "modern-day battlefield."

"That's why the word 'heroes' is so appropriate for what you do. You put fear aside and step up every day to help others."

Lindsay said she hopes the vaccination will mark the beginning of the end of "a very painful time in our history."

"I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe," she said.

The Latest

Just as the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer has begun reaching hospitals in all 50 states, approval for a second vaccine could be on the horizon.

A panel of experts from the Food and Drug Administration is expected to meet and vote Thursday to approve the emergency use of the vaccine developed by Moderna, according to a report from The Associated Press. Like the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna has said clinical trials have shown its vaccine to be about 95 percent effective.

The Moderna vaccine uses the same technology as Pfizer-BioNTech's and showed similarly strong protection against COVID-19 but is easier to handle because it does not need to be kept in the deep freeze at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius), the AP reported.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, weighed in on the vaccine developments Tuesday morning in an interview with "Good Morning America." He said President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris should receive the vaccine as soon as possible for "security reasons."

“For security reasons, I really feel strongly that we should get them vaccinated as soon as we possibly can,” he said.

He said President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence should also be vaccinated soon.

“You still want to protect people who are very important to our country right now,” Fauci said, according to a New York Times report.

“Even though the president himself was infected, and he has, likely, antibodies that likely would be protective, we’re not sure how long that protection lasts. So to be doubly sure, I would recommend that he get vaccinated as well as the vice president.”

The 300,000th coronavirus-related death in the United States was reported just hours after the vaccine was administered for the first time in this country on Monday.

The staggering milestone was reached around 3 p.m. that day, according to data from The New York Times. Shortly after, data from Johns Hopkins University also showed more than 300,000 deaths due to the virus.

This week has been dubbed "make or break" on the possibility of a second coronavirus relief bill getting through before the end of the year.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced two possible relief bills on Monday, the Post and others have reported. One is for $748 billion and includes new unemployment benefits, small-business aid and other programs. The second option includes liability protections for firms and about $160 billion in aid for state and local governments, according to the Post.

That's a swift change in strategy from what was reported Sunday, which was a single $908 billion proposal.

Newest Numbers

At least 1,393 new coronavirus deaths and 197,086 new daily cases were reported in the United States on Monday, according to a Washington Post database. Over the past seven days, the United States has averaged more than 216,000 cases each day.

As of Tuesday, 47 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 16.5 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday morning, and more than 302,200 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

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