New York begins vaccinating health care workers

“This is what everybody’s been waiting for: to be able to give the vaccine, and to, hopefully, see if this is the beginning of the end of the Covid issue,” he said shortly before Lindsay received the vaccine.

Northwell spokesperson Jason Molinet said Lindsay was chosen as the first vaccine recipient because she has been a “tremendous front-line leader” during the pandemic. Dowling added that Lindsay is among those who’ve treated the 100,000-plus coronavirus patients seen in Northwell facilities since the pandemic began.

Lindsay’s Dec. 14 inoculation, which was one of 10,000 vaccines set to be given to health care workers across the state on Monday, marked the beginning of what is expected to be a marathon-like effort to deliver and administer up to 40 million doses in New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration did not reveal which of its 90 distribution sites had received the first 10,000 doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, citing security concerns. A 170,000-dose batch is expected to be delivered throughout New York over a three-day period. (New York also expects to soon get 340,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine.)

New York City, which will receive nearly half a million doses this month, is administering them in the coming days at several hospitals across the city, though the de Blasio administration also declined to name them out of safety concerns.

NYU Langone and Albany Medical Center, however, joined Northwell in publicly announcing the start of Covid-19 vaccinations at their facilities.

“We’re getting a shot at hope,” de Blasio said ahead of the administration of the first doses at NYU Langone. “It begins right here, today.”

Albany Med said it had received 975 initial doses of the vaccine early Monday.

The Brooklyn Hospital Center, a so-called “safety-net facility” that primarily treats low-income people and communities of color, said it will receive 975 doses on Wednesday.

“It’s not mandatory. People have to volunteer to get it. We have a couple thousand employees; we don’t know who’s going to take it,” said President and CEO Gary Terrinoni, who added that he intends to get vaccinated on Wednesday to inspire confidence in the vaccine. “Ultimately we’ll be able to give it to patients and the community.”