Who Is Sandra Lindsay? Know More About The Critical Care Nurse And Vaccine Activist

Who Is Sandra Lindsay? The critical care nurse in New York was one of the first people to receive the vaccination for coronavirus in the United States. From December 14, 2020, to now, she chose to become a vaccine activist and promoted compulsory vaccination of all. She also became a prominent face in the country's vaccination campaign.

The nurse has been promoting vaccination programs on panels, in Zoom town halls and at various other events. Her getting the vaccination dose was televised across the US and since then she has become a vaccine celebrity. The Director of critical care nursing at the Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens was "broken and defeated" seeing the turmoil coronavirus had caused for both the patients and the medical staff.

Speaking at events in the US and Jamacia, where she is from, Lindsay said, "I encourage people to speak to experts who can answer their questions, to access trusted science. I let them know that it's OK to ask questions." Lindsay, during the first wave, had witnessed lives and livelihoods being lost.

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"I just felt broken, defeated, just tired and burned out. Witnessing the overwhelming loss of lives, loss of livelihoods," she said.

Lindsay getting the first dose was by chance. When Northwell Health asked volunteers to get the vaccination shots, Lindsay "happened to go first". Since then, she has been recognised by the President of US Joe Biden as an "Outstanding American by Choice" at a US Citizenship and Immigration Service program.

While acknowledging the mistrust that people of colour have on the vaccine doses, she reassured people by saying, "We've had millions and millions of people around the world get vaccinated without any significant adverse event."

Who Is Sandra Lindsay?

After the vaccination for children in the United States was approved, she offered comfort to a nine-year-old girl while she got vaccinated. She offered to hold her hand but denied giving the dose herself as she is not a pediatric nurse. For this gesture, the girl sent her a letter of thanks which made Lindsay grateful for the role that she is able to play in the process.

Lindsay is one of the first health care workers to have received a shot for COVID-19 vaccination in the US. She received the Pfizer vaccine and in an interview with MSNBC said, "I want to instil public confidence that the vaccine is safe."

According to her Twitter bio, she is a black woman from Jamaican and Nurse Executive at Northwell Health. Her bio too mentions #GetVaccinated.

Her Linkedin bio mentions that she has more than 26 years of experience as a critical care nurse. She has six siblings and was born and raised by her grandparents. She moved to the US in 1986 and graduated from the Borough of Manhattan Community College as valedictorian of her nursing program in 1993.

She lives in Port Washington, Long Island and has a son and one-year-old grandson.