First in Line

Sandra Lindsay is Vice President at Northwell Health and former nursing director of the critical care division at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where she led a team of nursing staff through the COVID-19 pandemic. On December 14th, 2020, Lindsay made history when she became the first person in the United States to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. She has been a nurse for three decades and has degrees from Borough of Manhattan Community College (AAS), St. Joseph’s College (BSN), Herbert Lehman College (MSN), Hofstra University (MBA), and A.T. Still University where she received her Doctorate (DHSc). She also holds an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Hofstra University. She is host of the podcast 20-Minute Health Talk. She is a public speaker and an advocate for public health. Lindsay is a 2022 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and recipient of the Order of Distinction in the Commander Class in her homeland Jamaica.

Joanne Skerrett is a former journalist who has been an editor at The Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune. She has an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Boston and is the author of five novels, most recently Island Man published by Red Hen Press.