Nurse, priest honored by president receive honors on Long Island

Xanthi Lazarakis and four friends were in her grandfather's car several weeks back when his phone rang.

Everyone instantaneously recognized the voice on the other end and sat motionless as the 46th president of the United States told the Rev. Alexander Karloutsos that he would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"I leaned over the center console, gave him a hug and a whispered 'Axios,' which means worthy [in Greek]," Lazarakis recalled Monday as Karloutsos, better known as Father Alex, and critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay of Port Washington, the first American to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, were honored by Long Island lawmakers.

During a July 7 White House ceremony, President Joe Biden presented the nation’s highest civilian honor to Karloutsos, the pastor of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons; Lindsay, the director of patient care services in critical care at Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Medical Center and 15 others for the contributions to American liberty, security and prosperity. 

Closer to home Monday in the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Steve Bellone, his Suffolk County counterpart, recognized the local honorees again with days in their honor — Lindsay on Monday and Karloutsos on Tuesday.

Lindsay, a Jamaican immigrant and nurse for nearly three decades, has become a leading voice for COVID vaccination. But she said the recent honors belong to all health care workers who put their lives on the line during the pandemic.

"During COVID-19 we were all in this together. I got vaccinated first. But as a health care worker, a nurse, an immigrant, a Black woman I share this great honor with all the nurses," Lindsay said. "This is a great day for all of us and a great day for health care workers." 

Maxine Carrington, senior vice president and chief people officer at Northwell, said Lindsay, who received her first dose on Dec. 14, 2020 — when questions about the safety of the new vaccine were common — inspired countless others to get their shot.

"Your willingness to come forward and ask to be present when we all needed hope was nothing short of courageous and inspiring," Carrington said during Monday's ceremony. "Being the first one took courage."

Blakeman agreed and said Lindsay's willingness to step up "gave people the feeling that … there is an end to this. There is hope."

Karloutsos, the former vicar general of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, has counseled U.S. presidents from Jimmy Carter to Biden, over the past four decades.

During the pandemic, Karloutsos opened the doors of his church to become a vaccine clinic that administered more than 10,000 doses, Bellone said.

"This is what he has done his whole life," Bellone said. "Bringing people together. Celebrating our differences. While seeing the common humanity that we all share."

The Southampton priest played a key role in the building of a chapel at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, and helped raise millions for the St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center site in Manhattan.

But Karloutsos said he is most proud of his family and the values he has instilled in them.

"I don't really value honors more than life or honors more than people," he said. "That is what I hope I am. I try to love people more than I love myself."