KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaican-American nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first person in the United States to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, has detailed the horrific experience of being on the frontlines of the pandemic in one of the early coronavirus epicentres and the circumstances that led her to create history.

Recalling the terrifying early days of the pandemic, she said “I’ve never seen so many people dying in all my career.

“What I went through, especially during March, April and May (of 2020), is only something that I thought I would have read about in history books – the suffering, pain, overwhelming loss of lives…,” Lindsay said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer at the media house’s headquarters on Monday.

Lindsay is the director of nursing for critical care at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, the first COVID-19 epicentre in the US. The pandemic has claimed more than 33,000 lives in New York City and, at one point during a 10-day stretch last April, the city averaged 750 deaths per day.

“I was afraid everyday going into work because you don’t know what you are dealing with,” Lindsay said, adding “It’s like fighting an enemy that you cannot see.”

On December 14, 2020, Lindsay went down in history, becoming the first person in the US to receive the COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials.

“I have been a fierce advocate for the vaccine ever since it was announced that scientists are exploring using what is not a new technology, but really working diligently to develop a vaccine to get us out of this,” Lindsay said.

Noting that she had indicated to colleagues, ahead of the arrival of the vaccine in New York, her desire to take the jab, Lindsay recalled, “When they knew that the vaccine was coming to Northwell Health, I got a call on the Sunday evening, which would be December 13, to find out if I was still interested, and without hesitation I said, ‘Absolutely, where do I show up?’”

She said she had no idea at the time that she would have gone down in history as the first person in the United States to be vaccinated.

Lindsay, who is from Palmer’s Cross, Clarendon, said she hopes her experience will help to instill confidence in the vaccine among fellow Jamaicans.

“I am doing this for all of us. I am here on vacation but I think it is very important that I spend this time with you to let you know that I am here, and I am sharing my experience,” she said.

Jamaica is presently grappling with its third wave of coronavirus infections with major hospitals across the island over the maximum capacity for COVID-19 admissions.

— Julian Richardson