Sandra Lindsay, the director of critical care at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) in Queens, received the most important second dose of Pfizer to maintain immunity to the virus.
The second vaccination comes 21 days after her historic first shot. Lindsay received the first vaccine on Dec. 14, with Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Officials say the Pfizer vaccine is considered 95% effective after the second dose.
Lindsay received it at the hospital where she supervises all intensive care patients. The second dose of the vaccine was administered by Michelle Chester, DNP, director of employee health services at Northwell Health, the same clinician who gave the first shot around the world.
“I feel good,” Lindsay said. “I did not feel any different at all before I got it. I hope the vaccine is available to everyone as it was for me.”
Northwell has vaccinated more than 22,000 employees with both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines since mid-December.
The second rounds take place not only in New York City but also in the Tri-State area.
In an ambitious plan, Mayor Bill de Blasio hopes to vaccinate 1 million people by the end of the month, although all the vaccination centers have not yet been set up and the city does not even have a million doses of vaccine – at least not yet.
The governor said his nursing homes should be vaccinated first. The staff ran the program and less than half received their first time.
Now the state is stepping in to speed up the process and wants all nursing home residents and staff to get the first doses.
Cuomo also said hospitals need to work better to administer the vaccine. Some perform better than others, with New York City Health and Hospitals almost at the bottom of the list in the amount of vaccines distributed.
In the future, hospitals could face fines of up to $ 100,000 for failing to deliver them on time.
“I need them to take personal responsibility for their hospitals,” Cuomo said. “This is a management issue of the hospitals. They need to move the vaccine and the vaccine needs to move faster.”
New York Presbyterian distributed the most doses in the state for its size, while NYC Health and Hospitals and Westchester Medical Center distributed the least: 31 and 32%, respectively.
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