COVID-19: Healing Is Coming, Says Nurse Who Gets First COVID-19 Vaccine in America
The New York City nurse who became the first person in the country to receive the COVID-19 vaccine outside of trials hopes to inspire others to “believe in science” and get vaccinated because “healing is coming.”
Sandra Lindsay, 52, who is the director of critical care nursing at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, spoke with MSNBC’s Joy Reid Monday night about receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier in the day.
“I felt a huge sense of relief, hope for everyone around the world that healing is coming, that we took a step in the right direction to finally put an end to this COVID-19 pandemic,” Lindsay said.
“I know that we still have a long way to go, and so I encourage people to listen to the experts, to continue to social distance, to continue to wear masks, to continue to practice hand hygiene, but it really felt good to get that vaccine in my arm finally after all these months.”
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in the U.S. The goal is to have nearly 3 million Americans across all 50 states receiving the first of their two shots required of the vaccine by the end of the week.
Lindsay particularly wanted to reassure the African American community that taking the vaccine is safe. Several polls have indicated skepticism by Black Americans when it comes to getting the vaccine, with many referencing the 1930s study at the Tuskegee Institute in which the effects of untreated syphilis were studied in a group of 600 Black men, the majority of whom did not receive urgent treatment to cure the illness.
Related: Black Americans are more likely than whites to distrust the COVID-19 vaccine, research shows. Black medical professionals are fighting this mentality with data and empathy.
The Black community has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, with 1.4 times as many cases, 3.7 times as many hospitalizations and 2.8 times as many deaths compared to White Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Indigenous and Latino communities have also been hit hard, with more than 4 times as many hospitalizations, per the CDC.
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