From Pandemic Horrors to a Shot of Hope

New York nurse Sandra Lindsay receiving the Covid-19 vaccine from Dr. Michelle Chester.

The Covid-19 pandemic arrived in the United States on the west coast. Washington state reported the first case in this country in mid-January 2020. On February 29, the first fatality in the nation occurred in Seattle. That was also the day that New York City reported the first laboratory-confirmed case of Covid-19.

New York quickly became the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. The toll was especially great in the borough of Queens, which had about 30% of all cases in the city that spring.

As director of nursing for critical care at a large Queens hospital, Sandra Lindsay had a front-row seat to the pandemic. “Seat” is perhaps the wrong word; she was too busy to sit still. Working extra-long shifts day after day without a break, she yearned for the end of the pandemic. The nurse knew that a vaccine was key to curbing the disease, and she eagerly signed up to receive the vaccine as soon as it became available.

On December 14, 2020—less than a year after the coronavirus hit America—Sandra Lindsay became the first recipient of the Covid-19 vaccine in the United States. Many media outlets covered the event, leading to instant celebrity status for the front-line worker. As a result of the press coverage, friends in Jamaica, where she immigrated from some 35 years ago, got in touch with her. In July 2021, she served as grand marshal of the Hometown Heroes Parade honoring New York City’s first responders, health care personnel, and essential workers.

Lindsay has capitalized on her unexpected fame to become a staunch vaccine advocate. She vigorously urges others to trade the horrors of the pandemic for a shot of hope.