Sandra Lindsay, Director of Patient Care Services for Critical Care, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Northwell Health New Hyde Park, NY

Sandra Lindsay is the Director of Patient Care Services for Critical Care at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center. She knows first-hand the health impacts COVID-19 has had on her patients. When she first heard that companies were working to create a vaccine for COVID-19, she remembers telling her friends and family that she would be the first in line to take it. In December 2020, Lindsay indeed became the first person in the United States to get the COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. 

During the height of the pandemic, Lindsay recalls working alongside her team for long hours trying to save critically ill patients who were fighting for their lives against the coronavirus. Keeping up with the volume of patients was difficult. At home, she had her newly born grandson who was born prematurely. Fearing she might infect him, she did what any loving and protective grandmother would do—she kept her distance to keep him safe.

Lindsay understands that many people are still skeptical about the vaccines and the speed at which the vaccines were developed. However, she believes that proper measures were taken to make sure the vaccines are safe and effective. She says the COVID-19 vaccine is the country’s best defense against fighting the coronavirus and encourages others to trust the science.

Lindsay came to the United States in 1986 at the age of 18 and always knew that she wanted to become a nurse. She describes graduating from nursing school as the proudest moment of her life. Since then, she has earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and recently, a doctorate in health sciences. Ms. Lindsay became a naturalized citizen in 1997.