Trailblazing Long Island Nurse Gets 2nd Coronavirus Vaccination

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — Long Island nurse Sandra Lindsay on Monday sat calmly in a chair at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park. She looked up at Dr. Michelle Chester, who used a syringe to draw Pfizer-BioNtech’s coronavirus vaccine from a vial.

Lindsay showed no fear. “I’m ready,” she said, giving the go-ahead to Chester to administer her second dose of the vaccine.

Lindsay, a Port Washington resident, is a critical care manager overseeing intensive care patients inside the hospital — one of the hardest-hit during the height of the pandemic in April. She became a global sensation when she volunteered to be the first person in the United States to receive the FDA-approved vaccine Dec. 14.

When the second shot was over, Lindsay thanked Dr. Chester and clapped.

“The message is still that of hope,” said Lindsay, who received her second shot 21 days after the first. “I feel like I have kind of completed the marathon and I have closed the loop.”

She emphasized the country still "isn't out of the woods yet."

“We don’t yet have herd immunity, but the burden feels definitely much lighter today," she said. "I’m very grateful to just receive this vaccine."

Lindsay said she wanted to show the vaccine is safe while also not dismissing the hesitancy and fears some feel about the vaccine.

She said on a scale of 1 to 10, her soreness from the first shot never rose above a 1. She said she never got a fever. She noted that in a study of the vaccine, people in her age group of 55 years old and under might experience soreness and a fever after the second shot. She said it is a risk she was willing to take.

“If I get those [symptoms], that pales in comparison with those of COVID-19 and possibly ending up in one of my one of my ICU beds here and potentially dead,” she said. “I am not worried as out what might come after.”

Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, praised Lindsay for stepping up as a role model. “I want to thank Sandra for everything she has done to promote the idea of vaccination because that’s extremely important,” Dowling said in a news release.

Lindsay said that she has been overwhelmed by the support of her colleagues.

“I have received so many texts and emails from my colleagues here at work, among Northwell employees," she said. "Many of my staff have gone and have been posting on Instagram and other platforms, which I think is great for people to know, for them to spread the message."

Lindsay’s second inoculation came on the heels of an expansion of the state's vaccination plan Monday. Dowling said the goal is to move as quickly, effectively and equitably as possible.

Northwell, the largest health system in New York, said it has vaccinated over 26,000 employees with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It plans to vaccinate the rest of its 75,000 employees by the end of January. Employees are prioritized based on their work/geographic area, specialty, job function and age.

Dowling said the company has 15 vaccination sites.

"Our goal is to accelerate the vaccination process, get as many people as possible to be vaccinated, communicate with the public and ensure that we use us all the vaccines that we get,” he said.

More than 38,000 people in New York have died from the coronavirus pandemic since the beginning of the pandemic.