U.S. Starts Vaccine Rollout as High-Risk Health Care Workers Go First
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`Last Updated
`Dec. 16, 2020
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`The first shots were given as the U.S. surpassed 300,000 virus-related deaths. Vaccinations also began in Canada.
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`This briefing has ended. Follow our latest coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
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`Hereʼs what you need to know:
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`ʻThe weapon that will end the warʼ: Vaccinations begin across virus-ravaged America.
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`The number of people with the virus who died in the U.S. passes 300,000.
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`A new survey finds that about a quarter of Americans donʼt want to get vaccinated.
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`At a national kickoff event, officials plead with the public to get vaccinated.
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`ʻIt was so closeʼ: Those who lost loved ones to Covid-19 grapple with a vaccineʼs arrival.
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`In Canada, the first vaccines leave health workers in tears of relief.
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`Puerto Rico gets only half the vaccine doses it was expecting.
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`Health care workers breathe a sigh of relief as they receive the first vaccinations.
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`A World War II veteran near Boston was the first Veterans Affairs patient to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
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`ʻThe weapon that will end the warʼ: Vaccinations begin across virus-ravaged America.
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`The first shots were given in the American mass vaccination campaign on Monday, opening a new chapter in the battle against the
`coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more people in the United States — over 300,000 — than in any other country and has taken a
`particularly devastating toll on people of color.
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`Shortly after 9 a.m., the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was administered in Queens, the first known inoculation since the vaccine was
`authorized by the Food and Drug Administration late last week. It was a hopeful step for New York State, which the virus has scarred
`profoundly, leaving more than 35,000 people dead and severely weakening the economy.
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`“I believe this is the weapon that will end the war,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday morning, shortly before the shot was given to
`Sandra Lindsay, a nurse and the director of patient services in the intensive care unit at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. State officials
`said the shot was the first to be given outside of a vaccine trial in the United States.
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`Ms. Lindsay, who has treated patients throughout the pandemic, said that she hoped her public vaccination would instill confidence that
`the shots were safe.
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`“I have seen the alternative, and do not want it for you,” she said. “I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end
`of a very painful time in our history.”
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`President Trump posted on Twitter: “First Vaccine Administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!”
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`Shortly afterward, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said at a news conference: “To me, we were watching an incredibly historic
`moment, and the beginning of something much better for this city and this country.”
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`While the first dose of the vaccine was administered in New York, people across the nation began receiving it on Monday as well. There
`was plenty of applause and some tears as news cameras captured the mundane rituals of an injection, underscoring the pent-up hope that
`this was the first step in getting past the pandemic.
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`“Today is the first day on the long road to go back to normal,” Mona Moghareh, a 30-year-old pharmacist, said after administering the first
`dose at a hospital in New Orleans.
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`But the joy was tempered by the harsh reality of the devastation the virus continues to inflict. The United States surpassed 300,000 virus-
`related deaths on Monday, reporting at least 1,670 new ones, along with at least 201,000 new cases.
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`The vaccinations started after the F.D.A.’s emergency authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Friday night. On Sunday, trucks and
`cargo planes packed with the first of nearly three million doses of coronavirus vaccine had fanned out across the country, as hospitals in all
`50 states rushed to set up injection sites and their anxious workers tracked each shipment hour by hour. But the rollout is less centralized
`in the United States than in other countries that are racing to distribute it.
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`According to Gen. Gustave F. Perna, the chief operating officer of the federal effort to develop a vaccine, 145 sites were set to receive the
`vaccine on Monday, 425 on Tuesday and 66 on Wednesday.
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`A majority of the first injections given on Monday are expected to go to high-risk health care workers. In many cases, this first, limited
`delivery would not supply nearly enough doses to inoculate all of the doctors, nurses, security guards, receptionists and other workers who
`risk being exposed to the virus every day. Because the vaccines can cause side effects including fevers and aches, hospitals say they will
`stagger vaccination schedules among workers.
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`Ms. Lindsay emphasized the symbolic importance that she was the first American to receive the vaccine — as a Black woman, she is
`among the demographic most disproportionately devastated by Covid-19. African-Americans also have long been subjected to unethical
`medical research, raising some concern that they may be more hesitant to take the vaccine.
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`“I want people who look like me and are associated with me to know it’s safe,” she said. “Use me as an example. I would not steer the
`public wrong.”
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`Residents of nursing homes, who have suffered a disproportionate share of Covid-19 deaths, are also being prioritized and are expected to
`begin receiving vaccinations next week. But the vast majority of Americans will not be eligible for the vaccine until the spring or later.
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`— Jack Healy, Amy Harmon, Simon Romero, Noah Weiland, Michael Gold, Roni Caryn Rabin, Karen Zraick and John Eligon
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