First coronavirus vaccination in the United States, starting in New York

“Sandra, you didn’t flinch,” said New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, D, when he saw it through a live stream from his office after the injection was given.

“It was no different than vaccination with other vaccines,” said Lindsay, who sat in a puffy blue armchair.

However, this vaccine is monumentally different.Developed At record speedUltimately, it is hoped that the pandemic that has crippled much of life in the United States and around the world for the past year will end.

“I think this is the weapon that ends the war,” Cuomo said.

Vaccinations began nationwide on Monday, and hospitals prioritized front-line healthcare professionals.The batch was shipped overnight as follows Emergency use permission that’s all weekend.. In some states, the governor was waiting at the hospital’s loading dock after seeing a box of vaccine filled with dry ice delivered to doctors and nurses who supported the arrival.

The first inoculation emphasized symbolism. The Long Island Jewish Medical Center was at the forefront of an enthusiastic battle this spring, with 3,500 hospitalized to fight illness. A total of more than 100,000 covid patients were treated at the institution.

But even when Cuomo, Lindsay, etc. celebrated cheers and applause live, they also vaccinated enough people to influence the wider course of the virus among the general public. It reminded me that it would take several months.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Lindsay said. “But we still need to wear masks and social distance.”

And the injection did not protect Lindsay. Administered on Monday, the vaccine, developed by Pfizer in collaboration with the German company BioNTech, will be given twice to achieve the 95% efficacy shown in the study.

The initial distribution of 2.9 million doses will be a coveted remedy for healthcare professionals, residents, and care facility staff. But that alone cannot stop the spread of viruses that have never been more widespread or destroyed in the United States than they are today.

The first vaccination on Monday took place when the United States averaged more than 200,000 new cases and nearly 2,500 deaths each day. Both are record highs.

Nevertheless, the majority of the population continues to obscure and ignore warnings to avoid rallying. An important part of the country also says it is not willing to be vaccinated: Recent studies have shown that 42 to 61 percent of Americans are willing to be vaccinated.

Vaccinations on Monday were delivered via live streams on television and social media, with the direct aim of increasing their proportion.

“We just have to do that,” urged Cuomo (D). His state was the epicenter of the American frenzied battle this spring. “The vaccine does not work if it is in a vial.”

President Trump — Repeat Wearing a simulated mask Other public health measures while promoting the strengths of the vaccine — Participated in the celebration.. “First vaccination,” he tweeted within minutes of Lindsay’s injection. “Congratulations USA! Congratulations!”

The United States was not the first country to receive the vaccine. The distinction belonged to England. Started jab Last Tuesday, he shot the arm of 90-year-old Margaret Keenan.

Approval in the US took some time. However, the American hospital on Monday wasn’t wasting time to start the process and was administering the dose immediately after delivery.

Some said the process had to wait until Tuesday, while others were in progress as of Monday morning.

At the UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, UPS driver Dallas White first carried a box of vaccine from the hospital loading dock to the pharmacy on Monday.

Upon arriving there, inventory specialist Lynn Peffer and clinical pharmacy director Carol Betterley used tongs, a box cutter, and even a cake knife to navigate through a thickly packed parcel. Underneath the layer of dry ice, a kitchen tile-sized container containing 975 doses of vaccine was found.

The dose will be given later on Monday to front-line workers interacting with covid-19 patients, including emergency room doctors, ICU nurses, people assigned to patient transport, and even managed workers. It was expected.

In neighboring Ohio, a UPS delivery truck carrying 975 vaccines arrived outside the Biomedical Research Tower at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus at around 9:15 am. Governor Mike Dewin escorted them. hospital.

Just one hour later, the inoculation was in progress.

“Are the vaccinated people ready? Are the recipients ready? Chief Administrative Officer Elizabeth Seeley announces to 30 front-line healthcare professionals and vaccinators’ rooms Did.

The first six shots were greeted with cheers and applause.

Robert Weber, 63, chief executive officer of the pharmacy and one of the vaccine managers, said this was a “lifetime opportunity.”

“That’s what I really wanted to do,” Weber said. “When I administer the vaccine, it shows that even I get it and administer it to the patient.”

After waiting for 30 minutes of observation, a buzzer installed in front of each recipient sounded and staff checked for systemic side effects and allergic reactions.

At Louisville Hospital at Kentucky State University, Governor Andy Beshear said he felt “the best mood since March 6” the day Kentucky counted the first covid-19 cases. “Today is the day we begin to win the battle with covid.”

The first shot of Kentucky was given after 11am

At the Oxner Medical Center in Jefferson, Louisiana, initial dose management was live streamed on Facebook. The event was a sophisticated piece of medical detail, including how each vial was given 5 doses. But it was also treated as an opportunity for a public health message.

Chief Medical Officer Robert Hart hosted an interview when a group of different staff took the shot and sent it with a “CV-19 Vaccinated” sticker. The health system received 9,375 doses.

“She is in the middle of it every day,” he said of Mia Yepes, a nurse working in the covid-19 unit.

Yepes said it was especially important to be there because she is African-American. She advised her colleagues and others in the area to be vaccinated.

“We want to be able to stop a lot of admission,” she said.

Many of the first vaccinated health care workers, including Lindsay, are black.

Louisiana is one of many states where the first wave of outbreaks has hit the black community hard and the news of vaccines has been skeptical.

Many people were on social media when the presidents of two historically black colleges, Walter M. Kimbro of Dillard University and C. Reynold Bellett of Xavier University, Louisiana, announced that they had volunteered to test one of the vaccines. I was wary and reacted.

Students and parents have expressed distrust in medical institutions due to historical misconduct and medical racism, such as the Tuskegee Syme poisoning experiment, which left the black man under study untreated.

On Monday, some of that hesitation appeared on the medical center’s Facebook page, with comments that it could eventually be vaccinated, but decided not to vaccinate at this time.

At the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, the location of the first injection, covid is making a disproportionate sacrifice among African Americans and other people of color.

After Lindsay received the shot, Yves Duroseau, chairman of the emergency medical department at Lenox Hill Hospital, was second. Like Lindsay, he took a shot with his left arm in the conference room while the news camera was clicking. Michelle Chester, director of employee medical services at Northwell Health, administered both vaccines.

“This is the beginning of the end of covid,” Chester said. “Together, as a community, as a country, we can end this.”

Chester said she was “focused on the patient” while she was vaccinated against Lindsay, and learned that she was the first to deliver the vaccine after the fact.

Chester wore purple gloves and gave Duroso a quick jab with a thin syringe.

“Please,” Duroso said.

“There is science behind vaccination,” Duroseau later said. “It’s safe. I wasn’t afraid. No doubt.”

He said he saw “ravages” by family accomplices with his uncle’s death. Another of his family is in the hospital at covid-19.

“Everyone was waiting for this day,” he said. “It wouldn’t have come early enough.”

Cha and Witte reported from Washington. Nick Kepler of Pittsburgh, Jasmine Hilton of Columbus, and Josh Wood of Louisville contributed to this report.