1st US coronavirus vaccine recipient reveals how she feels a day later
Sandra Lindsay (L), a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, is inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine by Dr. Michelle Chester, at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, on Dec. 14, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York. (Photo by MARK LENNIHAN/POOL/
QUEENS, N.Y. - New York critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first person in the U.S. to receive the coronavirus vaccine, told "America's Newsroom" the nation needs to "band together to put an end to this pandemic once and for all."
After getting the first dose Monday, Lindsay, an ICU nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, told host Sandra Smith she feels "great."
"It's surreal," she said of being on the cover of the New York Post, "but I'm happy to be representing health care workers and nurses all across the world."
Nurse Annabelle Jimenez(L) congratulates nurse Sandra Lindsay after she is inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine, at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, on Dec. 14, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York. (Photo by MARK LENNIHAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Imag
Dr. Michelle Chester, the corporate director of employee health services at Northwell Health, delivered the shot in an event that was livestreamed.
"People have a lot of apprehension and fear about taking the vaccine and my message to them is not to be afraid because the alternative is far worse," Lindsay said. "I've seen too much pain, too much suffering, too many people that passed as a result of COVID-19 and so I stand by the science. I believe in science. I trust science and I don't trust COVID-19."
"It was important for me," she added, "and especially to send a message to the minority community﹘Hispanics, Latinos, Blacks﹘who are usually grossly affected but still have mistrust based on history."
Moments after the shot, President Trump tweeted that the first vaccine had been administered, but didn't specify further.
Lindsay told New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that the shot "didn't feel any different" from any other vaccine she had received.
"We should continue the fight. The finish line is near," Lindsay told Fox News. "The light is brighter at the end of the tunnel, but we have to do our part, and we have to band together to put an end to this pandemic once and for all."
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