The New York nurse who was the first American to get the COVID-19 vaccine received the renowned Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
On December 14, 2020, Sandra Lindsay had her vaccination live on television, catapulting her into the global spotlight.
I’m extremely grateful and honoured to be receiving this distinguished award, Lindsay stated.
Lindsay, a critical-care nurse who oversees patient care at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, took advantage of her instant notoriety to promote the vaccine and healthcare professionals.
She shared the award with 16 other individuals, including the late John McCain, an Arizona Republican senator from whom Biden served in the Senate, gymnast Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington, and gymnast Simone Washington.
Lindsay added, “I hope that just by me being in the spotlight, representing nurses and health care workers, people start to recognize what we need as a healthcare community.
Last year, Lindsay admitted to Eyewitness News that her genuine interest still lies in allaying people’s worries and anxieties over the vaccine.
Without this potent weapon to defend us, she remarked, “I don’t know where we would be.” Encourage as many people as you can to take precautions for their own safety because doing so benefits not just you but also your loved ones and the places where you reside.
She talked about how the spotlight had affected her.
It was interviews and requests to participate on various programs and platforms “just after the shot,” the actress claimed.
I had the chance to meet the prime minister, returned home to Jamaica, and had the opportunity to be acknowledged at the White House by President Biden this year.
When Biden awards the medals at the White House the following week, she will be acknowledged once more.
Both living and deceased awardees from the fields of academics, athletics, politics, the military, and civil rights and social justice advocacy were included on Biden’s honours list, which the White House first revealed to the Associated Press.
“Here I am, a nurse, a Jamaican immigrant who will be recorded among these powerhouses,” Lindsay added. “It’s a true honour,”
The 13 other medalists are:
Sister Simone Campbell Campbell is a Sister of Social Service member and the former executive director of the Catholic social justice group NETWORK. She is an advocate for reworking the U.S. immigration system, health care reform, and economic fairness.
Juliet Garcia. Garcia, a former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville, was the first Latina to lead a university, according to the White House. According to Time magazine, she was one of the top college presidents in the country.
Gabrielle Giffords Former Arizona representative to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Democrat formed Giffords, a group devoted to putting a stop to gun violence. She suffered severe injuries after being shot in the head in January 2011 in Tucson at a political rally.
— Fred Gray Gray was a pioneering Black legislator in Alabama following Reconstruction. Martin Luther King Jr., the NAACP, and Rosa Parks were all clients of this well-known civil rights lawyer.
Steve Jobs Jobs served as Apple Inc.’s co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer. 2011 saw his demise.
– The Reverend Alexander Karloutsos. Archbishop Demetrios of America’s assistant is Karloutsos. Several U.S. presidents, according to the White House, have sought Karloutsos’ advice.
— Khizr Khan Khan’s son was an Army officer who immigrated from Pakistan and was murdered in Iraq. After giving a speech at the 2016 Democratic Global Convention, Khan acquired national notoriety and came under Donald Trump’s ire.
— Diane Nash Nash worked alongside King and was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which helped to lead some of the most significant civil rights campaigns of the 20th century.
— Megan Rapinoe In the National Women’s Soccer League, the two-time Women’s World Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist captains the OL Reign. She is a well-known supporter of racial justice, LGBTQI+ rights, and gender pay equity who has visited Vice President Biden’s White House.
Rapinoe, who was at a training camp in Denver when the White House called to tell her of the award, believed she was receiving a prank call or robocall when she saw “White House” written on her phone, according to a statement from U.S. Soccer. A teammate encouraged her to answer the call after she displayed her phone to him.
by Alan Simpson. The now-retired Wyoming senator who supported marriage equality, ethical leadership, and campaign finance reform worked alongside Biden.
Richard Trumka At the time of his passing in August 2021, Trumka had served as the AFL-president CIO for more than ten years and had 12.5 million members. He had served as the organization’s president in the past.
— Wilma Vaught. Vaught, a brigadier general and one of the most decorated females in American military history has broken down barriers as she has advanced through the ranks. One of only seven female generals in the military at the time of Vaught’s retirement in 1985.
Ral Yzaguirre Yzaguirre, a champion of civil rights, spent 30 years as the National Council of La Raza’s president and CEO. Under Obama, he was the country’s envoy to the Dominican Republic.
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Biden is a medal winner himself. A week before they left office in January 2017, President Barack Obama acknowledged Biden’s public service as a longtime senator and vice president by presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The honorees who were presented medals by Biden “have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities, and across the world, while blazing trails for generations to come,” the White House said.
The White House stated that recipients of this medal must have made outstanding contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, to efforts to promote world peace, or to other major public or private activities.
