Nurse who received first coronavirus vaccine in US gets second dose
The New York nurse who grew to become the first in the U.S. to obtain a dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine final month received her second shot on Monday, changing into one of many first in the nation to be absolutely inoculated.
“My message is going to be, just looking at me as an example that the vaccine is safe,” Sandra Lindsay, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, mentioned, according to the New York Post. “I haven’t had any side effects.”
Lindsay’s second dose comes three weeks after her first, which is the requirement for the vaccine’s two-jab schedule. It got here on the day that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced that hospitals who weren’t shifting rapidly sufficient by way of their provide of the vaccines might quickly face fines of as much as $100,000.
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Cuomo mentioned the menace to tremendous hospital programs which might be sitting on provide is supposed to speed up the vaccination course of. The U.S. fell far in need of a aim set by Trump administration officers to vaccinate 20 million folks in by the top of 2020.
Sandra Lindsay, pictured above getting her first shot on Dec. 14, mentioned she needs others to be told concerning the vaccines reasonably than counting on rumour.
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, Pool)
As of Monday, the U.S. had distributed greater than 15.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, however solely given out 4.5 million to Americans. Shipping delays, bungled know-how and administrative missteps have contributed to the delays.
Frontline well being care staff and residents of long-term well being care amenities have been among the many first to obtain the vaccine, with a number of areas of the nation already shifting into later phases that embody aged populations.
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There have been situations of hostile reactions to each the Pfizer vaccine and Moderna pictures, a few of which required hospitalizations. At least six such situations are beneath investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The company has since said that anybody who has a historical past of extreme allergic response to MRNA COVID-19 vaccines or a direct response to polysorbate shouldn’t obtain the vaccine right now. Those who have had an allergic response to different vaccines or injectable therapies ought to be recommended “about the unknown risks of developing a severe allergic reaction and balance these risks against the benefits of vaccination.”
Officials have additionally been working to fight vaccine hesitancy, urging these who are opting out to seek the advice of a well being care supplier reasonably than Internet boards.
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Lindsay echoed these efforts after receiving her second shot on Monday.
“I just want to tell people that if you’re uninformed, get informed,” she mentioned, according to The New York Post. “Don’t listen to hearsay. Let us all do our part. It’s our civil responsibility in a crisis to just band together and get through this. COVID-19 has stripped us of our lives and our livelihoods – and 2021 is our opportunity to reclaim that.”
