N.Y.ers Denzel & nurse who was first to be vaxxed get White House honors

Washington is honoring Denzel Washington with its top civilian honor.

The actor from Mount Vernon and the New York nurse who inaugurated the American vaccination project by receiving the country’s first post-trial shot will each receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House said Friday.

Washington, the inimitable two-time Oscar winner, and Sandra Lindsay, director of critical care nursing at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, will receive their honors Thursday, according to the White House.

The White House said they are part of a class of 17 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients that also includes sports sensations like Megan Rapinoe and Simone Biles and honorees including Steve Jobs and John McCain who will receive their recognition posthumously.

“President Biden has long said that America can be defined by one word: possibilities,” the White House said in a statement. “These 17 Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation — hard work, perseverance, and faith.”

The awards are to be bestowed at the presidential residence. Since President John F. Kennedy’s administration, the White House has handed out the honors to a broad array of distinguished Americans.

Washington (photo bottom r.), 67, studied at Fordham University in the city before embarking on one of American cinema’s most celebrated careers.

He is known for performances in films such as “Fences,” “Philadelphia” and “Malcolm X,” and he scored Academy Awards for “Training Day” and “Glory.”

He also won a Tony Award for a stage version of “Fences.”

Lindsay (photo top r.), 53, of Port Washington, rolled up her sleeve to get jabbed on Dec. 14, 2020, becoming the first person in an often shot-resistant country to receive a fully approved COVID vaccine.

“I was ready for the shot,” Lindsay, who was born in Jamaica, said last year. “I just wanted to feel like I have some other level of protection.”

She did not know she was going to be the first before the shot, she said, but she has worked to serve as an advocate for public health and vaccines over the past 18 months.

Twice boosted, she has never had a known coronavirus infection, she said. “Knock on wood,” she said by phone Friday.

She continued to urge New Yorkers to get jabs, which provide rugged defense against the worst COVID outcomes, and offered thanks to health care workers worldwide who have “selflessly given of themselves to fight this pandemic.”

And she said the honor coming from the White House had left her “shaken.”

“I was just overwhelmed with emotions,” Lindsay said. “I just immediately thought about what this means for health care workers, my colleagues, my loved ones, but also women, women of color, immigrants, my fellow Jamaicans.”