LI Jewish Medical Center administers state's first COVID-19 vaccine shot

The long-awaited initial batch of COVID-19 vaccines has arrived in the region, with a Port Washington nurse making history on Monday as the first person in New York and possibly the United States to receive it.

Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, was vaccinated around 9:20 a.m. at the medical center. The vaccine, produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, is being touted as being 95% effective against a disease that has killed more than 300,000 in the U.S.

"I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history," said Lindsay, who oversees all the intensive care units at Long Island Jewish. "I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe."

The start of vaccinations comes as the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 across the country continues to grow and hospitals see an uptick in patients. The vaccine is to be taken in two doses, 21 days apart.

New York's first batch of vaccines departed Michigan on Sunday, after receiving emergency use authorization on Friday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The state will receive enough doses to fully vaccinate 170,000 people, including health care workers and nursing home staff and residents, according to state officials. Another delivery of vaccine is expected later this month.

Additional vaccine could be available from pharmaceutical company Moderna if the FDA grants its emergency use authorization request later this week. Moderna said its vaccine is 95% effective as well.

Lindsay was vaccinated by Dr. Michelle Chester, director of employee health services at Northwell Health, which operates Long Island Jewish Medical, during a livestreamed event in which Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Northwell chief executive Michael J. Dowling participated.

Cuomo, who said Lindsay might be the first person vaccinated in the U.S. other than those in clinical trials, called hospitals during the pandemic a "modern day battlefield," and thanked Lindsay for "stepping up to serve" magnificently.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the country now exceeds 16.3 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine's Coronavirus Resource Center. New York State has recorded 784,204 confirmed cases, with 27,870 deaths attributed to the virus, since the pandemic started in March.

"I hope this gives you, and the health care workers who are battling this every day, a sense of security and safety and a little more confidence in doing your job," Cuomo told Lindsay.

Dowling added it's important that residents continue to comply with safety standards, including mask wearing and social distancing.

The first vaccines earmarked for Northwell arrived via FedEx on Monday morning, said Onisis Stefas, Northwell’s chief pharmacy officer. He said the health system will start going down the vaccine priority list, and that Tuesday "will be a heavier vaccination day."

Hospitals throughout the region were optimistic they'd be receiving vaccines.

Dr. Joseph Greco, chief of hospital operations at Mineola-based NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island, said "we expect a delivery [Monday]."

"We expect to start vaccinating within four hours of receiving them," Greco added. "If it comes too late, we could wait until [Tuesday]. But we are prepared. We are ready to go."

Rockville Centre-based Catholic Health Services said it received the vaccine Monday morning and would begin administering it to employees, with top priority placed on those working in ICUs, emergency departments and COVID-19 units.

"It's a very emotional day," said Dr. Jason Golbin, chief quality officer at Catholic Health Services, which operates six hospitals on Long Island. "It's the beginning of the end for this truly challenging time. We have treated over 4,000 COVID-19 patients and sent them home. It's been very difficult."

Catholic Health Services said initial COVID-19 doses also will be used to vaccinate its nursing home, home care and hospice employees.

Nursing home residents at Catholic Health Services, and elsewhere, will be vaccinated through a federally operated program that includes partnering with pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens to administer the doses.

CVS said it will be ready to administer COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 21, the first day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said such vaccinations can take place in long-term care facilities.