NYC Marks 1-Year Anniversary Of First COVID Vaccine Dose

NEW YORK CITY — What a difference a year makes — at least when it comes to coronavirus vaccinations in New York City.

A year ago Tuesday, nurse Sandra Lindsay rolled up her sleeve at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens. She became the first person in the United States to receive a vaccine against COVID-19.

But Lindsay's inoculation and the 73 others that day were a drop in a vast statistical bucket — the city's vaccination rate still effectively stood at 0 percent. Fast-forward a year later, 90 percent of all adults in the city have received at least one dose as of Monday.

“We’ve come a long, long way,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during his daily briefing.

As of today, 𝟳𝟬.𝟳% of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated — that's 𝟱,𝟴𝟵𝟲,𝟵𝟳𝟬 people!

Also, another fantastic milestone — 𝟵𝟬% of adults have had at least one dose! 🎉🩹🗽 pic.twitter.com/BDgnedDjFN
— Commissioner Dave A. Chokshi, MD (@NYCHealthCommr) December 13, 2021

Vaccinations have become the key to de Blasio's strategy against COVID-19. He issued a spate of ever-wider mandates requiring inoculations, culminating in his controversial mandate announced last week that all private employers in the city must require vaccination.

De Blasio spent the weekend on various news programs defending the private employer mandate — and the concept of such strict requirements as a way to fight COVID-19 in general.

"We're leading the country, and that's because we used incentives and mandates," he said on "Fox News Sunday." "And every single mandate we put in place has greatly increased the number of people vaccinated."

The city's adult vaccination rate stood at roughly 60 percent when de Blasio unveiled its first jab mandate in mid-August.

Since then, nearly 70 percent of all New Yorkers are fully vaccinated, according to data. Roughly 12.83 million doses overall have been administered.