Daily World wire services
The first COVID-19 shots were administered by U.S. hospitals Monday, the initial step in a historic drive to immunize millions of people this week as the Pfizer Inc. vaccine is distributed nationwide.
In New York, an early epicenter of the U.S. crisis, critical-care nurse Sandra Lindsay received the first shot in that state at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens. Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined the event via video from his office in Albany, thanking the nurse for her work throughout the pandemic.
The arrival of the Pfizer-BioNTech SE vaccine offers a glimmer of hope amid a pandemic that has already seen almost 300,000 Americans die. About 200,000 people are testing positive for the virus every day in the nation’s worst surge to-date.
In Washington state, about 3,900 doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine arrived at UW Medicine’s Montlake campus Monday morning, among the first to be distributed in the state. Those doses will be distributed among UW Medicine’s four hospital campuses. The shipment to UW Medical Center arrived at 7:20 a.m. Monday, via FedEx.
Washington’s first 62,400 doses have been directed to 40 facilities in 29 counties, including hospitals, one pharmacy, two tribal nations and an urban Indian health facility, according to Michele Roberts, the state Department of Health’s acting assistant secretary. Most doses next week will go to health care workers.
Between Pfizer’s vaccine, and the Moderna vaccine that awaits emergency approval, state officials expect more than 400,000 doses from the federal government by the end of 2020, which will go to hospitals for health care workers and residents in long-term care facilities.
The government plans to distribute 2.9 million doses to U.S. states during the week ahead, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that the first shots go to health-care workers and those in long-term care facilities, including the nation’s hard-hit nursing homes.
“I believe this is the weapon that will win the war,” said Cuomo, who convened an advisory group to independently review the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. are set to start vaccinating residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities on Dec. 21, using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. They are partnering with the federal government in the effort.
The CDC plans to document receipt and integrity of the vaccines as they are delivered, according to Kristen Nordlund, a spokeswoman for the agency. “In addition,” she added, “these visits will allow the government to gather important information on the early shipments so we can continually improve the process.”
Operation Warp Speed officials have said 20 million Americans could receive the first shot of the two-course vaccines by the end of the year.
