The First American to Receive a COVID-19 Vaccine, Lindsay has been a Leading Advocate for Health Care Equity at CUNY and Nationwide
Dr. Sandra Lindsay receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Biden (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite).
The City University of New York salutes Dr. Sandra Lindsay, a two-time alumna and health care advocate who was the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials, on being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, last week.
I am proud to say that I began my education journey @CUNY #education #college #university #cunyproud #nurse #nurseleader #historymaker https://t.co/sNPqz7CeLE
— Sandra Lindsay (@sandralindsayRN) July 6, 2022
“On behalf of the entire CUNY community, I proudly congratulate CUNY’s own, Dr. Lindsay, on this most deserved commendation, an honor that attests to the courage she showed the world in becoming the first American to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “I also thank her for her unwavering support for her alma mater and our students since she got the shot. Over the last year and a half, she lent her voice repeatedly to our various efforts to educate and vaccinate our community about COVID-19.”
Dr. Lindsay received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Biden at the White House on July 7. The moving ceremony brought us back to the many ways she has shown she’s #CUNYProud.
Lindsay gets the first COVID-19 vaccine shot in the U.S. (Credit: Office of the New York Governor)
As director of patient care services for Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center since 2016, she had been on the frontlines of New York City’s fight against the coronavirus. On December 14, 2020, Lindsay made history when she became the first American to receive a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. With the action, Lindsay put herself on display for the nation and world, saying she wanted to set an example of the safety and urgency of vaccination as a weapon to control the pandemic, particularly for communities of color. She catapulted herself into the public eye, but it was only one step in the personal journey of commitment that she began years earlier.
Lindsay holds a photo from her BMCC commencement ceremony.
Lindsay, who was born and raised in Jamaica and moved to New York when she was 18, enrolled at Borough of Manhattan Community College and graduated in 1994 as valedictorian of the nursing program.
After BMCC, Lindsay went to work as a registered nurse in the oncology department at Lenox Hill Hospital. In 1997, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen and she received a bachelor’s in nursing from St. Joseph’s College in 1998. Even as she advanced to leadership roles in critical care nursing, Lindsay returned to CUNY and earned a master’s degree in nursing from Lehman College in 2010.
In the early months of 2021, after Lindsay received the life-saving shot and the vaccine became readily available, she lent her voice — and her prominence — to her alma mater. CUNY launched #VaxUpCUNY — a campaign that encouraged members of the CUNY community to get vaccinated and sought to ease anxiety about the vaccine among people of color, whose communities were being disproportionately impacted. Lindsay participated in the campaign, proclaiming in a public service announcement shared with the CUNY community that she would “#VaxUpCUNY for all of you.”
Smith and Lindsay at the 2021 BMCC nursing pinning ceremony.
Tracey Smith, the president of BMCC’s Student Nursing Association, who was preparing to graduate as a member of the class of 2021, was inspired by Lindsay’s courage. Smith’s pinning ceremony was scheduled for June 2, one of the first at CUNY to return to being held in person. Smith could not think of a better keynote speaker than Lindsay, who had recently earned another degree: a doctorate in health sciences from A.T. Still University. Lindsay accepted the invitation and spoke to the nursing grads while wearing her original BMCC nursing pin from 1994. BMCC President Anthony E. Munroe presented her with the college’s presidential medal.
Lindsay returned to Lehman College this spring to receive the 2022 Alumni Achievement Award and address members of the Class of 2022 at their Commencement. In her remarks, Lindsay pushed graduates to use their voices to enact change in the world.
Lindsay at the 2022 Lehman College Commencement Ceremony, alongside Chancellor Matos Rodríguez, CUNY Trustee Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez and Lehman President Fernando Delgado.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is not the first honor Lindsay received at the White House; last July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services named her an Outstanding American by Choice in recognition of the contributions she has made to the country as an immigrant. Lindsay has also met with Abudlla Shahid, president of the UN General Assembly, and with Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica. Her vaccination record card, hospital scrubs, ID card and the vial that held the vaccine dose she received have been added to the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
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