‘Light at the end of the tunnel’: In Covid-battered Queens, a frontline nurse becomes first American to receive the vaccine

It’s a bittersweet day for the US as start of vaccination programme coincides with coronavirus death toll passing 300,000, writes Richard Hall

Dr. Michelle Chester, right, rolls up the sleeve of Sandra Lindsay, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, before she is inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, December 14, 2020 , at the Jewish Medical Center, in the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images)

Sandra Lindsay saw the coronavirus at its most destructive. For months, she worked on the frontlines of the pandemic in one of the worst-affected boroughs, in the worst-affected city, in the worst-affected country in the world.

Today, the critical care nurse became the first American to receive a vaccine as the US began its ambitious mass vaccination campaign, a moment that many hope will mark a crucial turning point in the pandemic.

“I’ve been waiting for this day, not only for myself, but to show people that it’s safe and believe in the science,” Ms Lindsay said after receiving the vaccine at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens shortly after 9am.

The room broke out into applause as a doctor administered the vaccine, the first time anyone has received it outside of a trial setting.

“Today, it’s very hopeful and exciting, and we see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she added.

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It was a bittersweet day for the Long Island nurse. Even as she confessed to feeling relief, she noted the terrible toll the pandemic has taken on healthcare workers like her.

“It was dark and it was painful,” she said of the last 10 months. “Every day hearing rapid responses being called one after the other, expanding our ICU unit from four to 10, working and seeing my staff work 16 hours to save lives, holding people’s hands while they pass away, calling family members on Facetime, crying with people.”

It was a bittersweet day for the country, too. Hopeful images of medical workers from California to Louisiana receiving their vaccine were broadcast alongside rolling banners announcing the US had reached 300,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. More than 3,000 people are dying every day from the virus.

Queens, where Ms Lindsay works, was among the hardest hit parts of New York when the city became an early epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. Neighbourhoods here witnessed almost apocalyptic scenes in those terrible months: overflowing hospital wards, exhausted healthcare workers on the brink of collapse, refrigerated trucks parked outside hospitals to store the dead.

Antibody testing carried out since that peak showed the adjoining Queens neighbourhoods of Elmhurst and Corona far outstripped the rest of the city in infections, with 45 per cent and 51 per cent of tested people possessing antibodies.

Immigrant communities and people of colour were particularly hard hit by the virus, and there has been concern over research that suggests they may be more sceptical of taking the vaccine than others. Nurse Lindsay, who is Black, sought to dispel any fears people might have over its safety.

“I want people who look like me to feel confident and comfortable about taking the vaccine,” she said. “To all the people who are sceptical, use me as an example. I would not steer my community or the public wrong. My profession is deeply rooted in the science. I can say to you that it’s safe to take the vaccine. I have seen the alternative, I do not want that for you.”

New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who appeared alongside Lindsay as her vaccination was broadcast live, praised her and other healthcare workers for their role in battling the virus.

“I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you do,” he told her. “Everybody knows how brave you are and skilled and talented and selfless. When they use the word heroes, we don't mean that lightly. We mean it deeply and sincerely.”

Ms Lindsay was joined shortly after by a number of other medical workers who received their vaccines. Vanessa Arroyo, a 31-year-old Florida nurse who works in a Covid unit in Tampa became the first in her state to receive the vaccine. In California, an intensive care nurse named also received hers, watched over by governor Gavin Newsom.

Nearly 3 million doses of the vaccine are currently on their way to distribution centres across the United States as part of Operation Warp Speed, a partnership between private pharmaceutical companies and the US government.

The plan aims to inoculate 100 million Americans by mid-March, and 250-300 million Americans by June. Hospital workers who are deemed to be high risk will receive the vaccine first, followed by nursing home workers and residents. Essential workers will come after that. The general public might have to wait until February before they have access to the vaccine.

After flattening the curve of its first spike in the summer, cases are rising again. New York city mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that the months ahead would be the “last big battle against the coronavirus here in New York City,” but warned that it could be forced into a full shutdown again soon as cases are on the rise.

Outside of the hospital in the Glen Oaks neighbourhood of Queens, there was little sign of fanfare over the historic developments nearby.

“Maybe it’s okay. This is the first time, nobody knows what’s going on with this vaccine. In England too many people get a problem,” said John Faquiry, who works in a food truck near the hospital. “I’m worried until I find out what’s going on. Then maybe I will get the vaccine.”

But for others, there was a sense of relief.

“I hope everything works out. I hope it saves a lot of people because it’s a mess right now,” said Biranna Kiefer, a Queens resident who lost members of her own family to the virus.  

“It’s been crazy.”