Coronavirus live updates: Nurse gets first dose of vaccine in NY; nearly 300K dead; NYC may have 'full shutdown'

Ryan W. Miller and Jordan Culver, USA TODAY

NEW YORK – A nurse in New York City was among the first people to receive the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning.

"I feel hopeful today," said Sandra Lindsay, the critical care nurse at New York's Long Island Jewish Medical Center, after she received the shot with Gov. Andrew Cuomo watching via livestream.

Lindsay was one of many health care workers across the country who were receiving the vaccine Monday. Nursing home residents were also first in line to receive the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, the first approved in the country to combat the coronavirus.

The first vaccinations come, however, as the United States was on the brink of 300,000 deaths from COVID-19. The country is still battling overcrowded hospitals and record-breaking daily case count.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 16.2 million cases and 299,192 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 72.1 million cases and 1.61 million deaths.

📰 What we're reading: We're answering your questions about the vaccine, like: What are the side effects? Can you still get sick? Is it safe during pregnancy? Get the answers here.

This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter.

Louisiana doctor calls getting vaccine 'an honor and a privilege'

Louisiana rolled out its vaccinations by delivering shots to health care workers at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans Monday morning.

“It is a great day. It's a day that we have been preparing for planning for and praying for, for about nine months now,” Governor John Bel Edwards said at the hospital.

Dr. Leo Seoane, Ochsner’s Chief Academic Officer, was among the first to get the Pfizer vaccine at Ochsner’s New Orleans Medical Center Monday morning, which he said was particularly meaningful as a Cuban-American given the virus’ disproportionate impact on African-Americans and people with Hispanic heritage.

“It's been an incredible morning, like everyone says it is historic,” Seoane said. “As a Cuban-American and a first generation immigrant to this country, it's really an honor and a privilege to be part of the solution for something that we know has been so impactful for Hispanic community.”

– Andrew Capps, Lafayette Daily Advertiser

Dr. Leo Seoane, chief academic officer for Ochsner Health System, becomes among the first Louisianans to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as Louisiana's frontline healthcare workers begin to receive the first COVID-19 vaccinations in the state on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020.
Dr. Leo Seoane, chief academic officer for Ochsner Health System, becomes among the first Louisianans to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as Louisiana's frontline healthcare workers begin to receive the first COVID-19 vaccinations in the state on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020.

Kentucky doctor 'volunteered to go first' to show vaccine is safe, effective

Dr. Jason Smith, the chief medical officer at University of Louisville Health, became the first person in Kentucky on Monday to receive a dose of the new COVID-19 vaccine.

Gov. Andy Beshear was on hand to watch as Smith, who is a trauma surgeon, two nurses and two other doctors prepared to receive the vaccine that had arrived at University of Louisville about an hour earlier.

Smith said he hopes people will be willing to take the vaccine as it becomes available.

“I fully believe this is a safe and effective vaccine,” he said. “I volunteered to go first because of that.”

– Deborah Yetter, Louisville Courier Journal

Florida nurse gets vaccine

A nurse at Tampa General Hospital in Florida was the state's first person to receive the vaccine Monday.

Dr. Charles Lockwood, Dean of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, said this was an exciting, historic moment.

The only thing he could think of that came close was when watching astronaut Neil Armstrong step on the moon. "This is our magical Neil Armstrong moment," Lockwood said.

– Jeffrey Schweers

Health care workers in Connecticut get vaccines

Vaccinations began in Connecticut on Monday as two health care workers received the first shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Hartford HealthCare’s Dr. Ajay Kumar and Keith Grant, senior system director for infection prevention, both received their vaccines before 11 a.m., the Hartford Courant reported.

“This is a momentous time for all of us. We’ve been working very hard to contain and manage the pandemic so far, and this is one more huge and significant step forward,” Kumar said, per the newspaper.

New York nurse received COVID-19 vaccine

A critical care nurse in New York City received the first shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning with other health care workers cheering and Gov. Andrew Cuomo watching via livestream.

"I'm ready. Let's do this," Sandra Lindsay said before she received the shot after 9 a.m. in Queens. Those in the room applauded after Lindsay was given the shot.

The nurse said she felt "relieved" and that she wanted to "instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe."

"I hope this marks the beginning to the end of a very painful time in our history," Lindsay said.

Dr. Michelle Chester of Northwell Health, who administered the shot, added: "Everything went perfectly."

Dr. Yves Duroseau, the chairman of emergency medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, became the second health care professional in New York to receive the vaccine about an hour later.

Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse, receives the very first COVID-19 vaccine administered in New York state. The shot took place at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens; Dec. 14, 2020.
Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse, receives the very first COVID-19 vaccine administered in New York state. The shot took place at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens; Dec. 14, 2020.

Vaccines arriving across the country

States and local hospital administrations confirmed Monday they were receiving COVID-19 vaccines.

Monday, The Texas Department of State Health Services said 19,500 doses of the vaccine were headed to four sites in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin.

Iowa and South Dakota also confirmed they had received their shipments. Here's where else the vaccine has been delivered:

  • In Wisconsin, UW Health said its first doses were in ultra-cold storage freezers and would be administered to employees Monday afternoon.

  • Colorado received its first doses Monday morning as a FedEx driver delivered 975 vials, with Gov. Jared Polis signing for the package.

  • Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was also present to see his state's first vaccines being delivered.

  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he "had the privilege" to sign for his state's FedEx package of the first 20,000 Pfizer doses.

  • Hospitals in Maine and Massachusetts said they had received their vaccines as well.

How women can help swing momentum with vaccine skepticism in communities of color

Jessica Ross, a 23-year-old Black woman in Atlanta, said she — and many other Black women in her circle — are nervous to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

From the Tuskegee Syphilis Study on Black men that did not provide them with treatment to cure the disease, to Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cancer cells were used for research without her or her family's permission, many have cultivated distrust in public health systems. "A lot of them are nervous about, is this going to be ... tested out on minority groups," Ross said about her friends and family.

Several polls have shown the ambivalence surrounding the vaccine among people of color, and a recent survey has found Black women like Ross and Latino women, more than men, are most reluctant to take the vaccine.

Experts and members of these communities aren’t surprised. The country’s history of unethical testing and experimentation on Black men and women colors the community’s lack of trust. But as the coronavirus continues to threaten people of color most, medical experts say dispelling skepticism is essential, and women of color could be the key.

– Nada Hassanein

NYC indoor dining ban takes effect, full shutdown may come soon

A renewed ban on indoor dining took effect in New York City on Monday as officials try to slow the spread of the virus in what was once the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the restriction last week as New York City and the surrounding area have seen a steady uptick in new cases over the fall. The ban limits the already beleaguered restaurant industry to takeout and outdoor dining only.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also said Monday that "a full shutdown" could be on the horizon in the coming weeks if cases put a strain on the city's hospitals.

"This kind of momentum that the disease has right now, we’ve got to stop it before it causes too much damage, too much pain," de Blasio said on CNN's "New Day."

Role-playing, planning for earthquakes: Health care centers prep for vaccine arrival

Hospitals and medical centers spent Sunday preparing for the first COVID-19 vaccine to arrive Monday morning, a massive undertaking that began when a caravan of semis guarded by unmarked police cars pulled out of the Pfizer manufacturing plant in Portage, Michigan, just after dawn.

Providers spent the weekend running through every possible contingency that could get in the way, from earthquakes to power outages. The run-throughs and tabletop exercises and hours and hours of Zoom calls are necessary because dealing with the Pfizer vaccine takes training and great organization.

"We did our final run-through exercise today," said Dr. Nasim Afsar, chief operating officer for UCI Health in Orange, California. The team role-played the entire process, from vaccine arriving at the loading dock to an injection being given.

"One person would say, 'I've got the vaccine, I'm walking to the clinic. This is the path I'm going to take.' And then another would be a sample patient and someone would bring them into the room and we'd walk through the entire process of getting them vaccinated," she said.

– Elizabeth Weise

Pfizer CEO: 100M vaccine doses will be distributed by end of the first quarter

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Monday that, like many others, he was planning to get his company's groundbreaking vaccine. "People will believe much more in the vaccine if the CEO is getting vaccinated," he told CNN's Sanjay Gupta.

By the end of the year, the company will have manufactured 50 million doses, half of which will go to U.S. sites with the remaining doses given out globally. By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 100 million doses will have been distributed across the nation, he said. The federal government has already requested an additional 100 million doses, he said.

"This year, we will have around 50 million doses available. Most of them have already been manufactured, so they are already there. Next year, we will do 1.3 billion doses," Bourla said, but noted that not all those vaccinations were destined to the United States. "We are working very diligently to increase this number as we understand the demand is very high."

White House, Congress, SCOTUS will get early vaccine access

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will be among the top office-holders offered coronavirus vaccines in the next week to 10 days to guard against an outbreak that could cripple the functions of government, officials said Sunday.

However, Trump said in a tweet Sunday night that those working in the White House should be immunized later in the program "unless specifically necessary." He noted he was not "scheduled" to take the vaccine but indicated he would be inoculated at some point. The president was diagnosed with and recovered from the virus in October.

The shots will be offered to officials across all three branches of government, including leaders at the White House, in Congress and on the Supreme Court. White House staff members who work in close proximity to Trump are also expected to get early vaccines. The White House has been the site of several outbreaks during the pandemic, with Trump, his chief of staff and several aides among those infected.

– David Jackson

Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are loaded Sunday onto a truck for shipping at the Pfizer Global Supply manufacturing plant in Portage, Mich.
Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are loaded Sunday onto a truck for shipping at the Pfizer Global Supply manufacturing plant in Portage, Mich.

California hospital pleads with residents to follow COVID protocols

With zero percent hospital capacity left, Providence St. Mary Medical Center officials are now pleading with local residents to follow coronavirus protocol.

The situation at the California hospital isn’t unique. Across the country, health centers are reaching their breaking points, crammed with coronavirus patients and running out of resources, including staff. But Providence St. Mary directors and front-line healthcare workers are asking for the support of citizens to help slow the spread locally.

“In the last three, four weeks we’ve been a case study for what happens when people don’t social distance, when people don’t wear masks," said Bryan Kawasaki, the hospital’s spokesman. "We hope that people will learn and help alleviate the stress off the hospital systems in the High Desert.”

– Martin Estacio and Matthew Cabe, Victorville Daily Press

Some Florida hospitals won't require COVID-19 vaccinations

Some of Florida’s top hospitals, including those expected to soon get the first shipments of vaccines to prevent COVID-19, won’t require medical and support staff to get the shots even though they require inoculations against the far-less-deadly flu virus.

Five Florida hospitals are slated to get the initial distribution of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine between Monday and next Sunday, according to state Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz. Those hospitals are in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami and Hollywood.

The state’s vaccine distribution plan calls for health care workers, other “essential personnel,” the elderly and those with health problems putting them at high risk for COVID-19 complications to receive priority in getting access to the vaccine.But not even all of the Florida hospitals getting the first doses will require their staff to be immunized.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that the federal government will provide the state with 179,400 doses of a vaccine developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech.

– Frank Gluck, Fort Myers News-Press

COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID news: Pfizer vaccines arrive at hospitals, 300,000 US deaths

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