Woman Gets First COVID Vaccine in New York, Donald Trump Tweets 'Congratulations USA'

A woman in New York City has become the first person in New York state—and perhaps the country—to receive an approved COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, received a dose of the vaccine developed by American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and their German partner BioNTech, shortly after 9 a.m.

Some outlets reported Lindsay was the first person to be vaccinated against COVID outside a clinical trial in the U.S.

Donald Trump tweeted on Monday: "First Vaccine Administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!"

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hosted a live stream showing Lindsay receiving the vaccine at the facility.

After having the shot, Lindsay said: "It didn't feel any different from taking any other vaccine. I'm feeling well. I feel hopeful today, I'm relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning to the end of a very painful time in our history. I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We're in a pandemic so we all need to do our parts to put an end to [it]."

Lindsay said: "There's light at the end of the tunnel but we still need to continue to wear our masks, to social distance. I believe in science. As a nurse my practice is guided by science and so I trust science. What I don't trust is that if I contract COVID, I don't know how it will impact me or those who I come in contact with. So I encourage everyone to take the vaccine."

During the live stream, Governor Cuomo thanked Lindsay and the doctor administering the shot for all the work they had done on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York.

Cuomo said: "I know how horrific it was, it was a modern day battlefield. And that's why the word 'heroes' is so appropriate for what you did. You put your fear aside and you stepped up every day to serve others."

"This vaccine is exciting because I believe this is the weapon that will end the war," Cuomo said. "It's the beginning of the last chapter of the book but now we just have to do it. Vaccine doesn't work if it's in the vial. New York state has been working very hard to deploy it. We have planes, trains and automobiles moving this all over the state right now. We want to get it deployed, and we want to get it deployed quickly."

The U.S. is now preparing itself for its largest ever vaccination campaign after the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Friday.