5 Takeaways From the First Week of Vaccines in New York The mass vaccination program is off to an encouraging, if slow, start. Petrona Ennis-Welch, a nurse, was the first person from Mount Sinai Hospital to receive a vaccine. Credit...Kirsten Luce for The New York Times Since its arrival on Monday, the coronavirus vaccine has brought hope to New Yorkers. But so far, only a few have actually been administered the vaccine. In the first 72 hours after the vaccine’s arrival, some 5,200 health care workers in New York City received the first of two doses, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday. It was a slow start to what officials are calling the greatest mass vaccination campaign in the past 50 years, perhaps since polio.