First in Line: How COVID-19 Placed Me on the Frontlines of a Health Care Crisis

Summary

Sandra Lindsay immigrated to the United States from Jamaica in 1986 with ambitions of becoming a nurse and living the American Dream. In December 2020, she became the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and was subsequently honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In First in Line Lindsay lays out her triumphs and setbacks as a single mother and working student who overcomes barriers. Her beginnings as a four-dollar-an-hour grocery store worker fortified her with the resilience to persevere over decades to become an executive at a globally recognized nationally known healthcare system.

Lindsay recounts working through the darkest months of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. The suffering and losses she witnessed ignited Lindsay's passion for seeing an end to inequities in healthcare.

First in Line tackles a variety of issues: bias and inequity in healthcare; chronic disease in marginalized communities; maternal, infant, and Black and Brown women's health; and mental health. While Lindsay continues to beat the drum for vaccination as COVID-19 continues to impact our lives, she advocates for improved, equitable healthcare for all people who live on the margins.