(The Slice): The first woman to receive the Coronavirus vaccine, a nurse based in New York, the then-epicenter of the spread, is calling on Pres. Joe Biden to extend total student loan debt forgiveness to frontline workers. Sandra Lindsay is a health advocate who was honored with the Medal of Freedom at the White House in June. While there she told The Slice News that healthcare workers are "still dealing with a lot of stress -- burnt out and exhausted" nearly 3 years into the pandemic. One way to alleviate some of the extra stress they absorbed during the COVID crisis is to lift the burden of educational financial obligations. "A lot of the people have a lot of student loan debt that they were working two jobs to pay," Lindsay, underscoring that this debt is a contributing stress factor.
She appealed to the nation to "take care of them" just as healthcare providers took care of Americans during the cost grueling days of the pandemic.
Sandra Lindsay and Mona Austin of the Slice News pose at the White House following the Medal of Honor ceremony.
New York Congresswoman Carolne Maloney introduced the bill dubbed to as a way of thanking medical workers for their service. The bill would forgive both the outstanding interest and principal on federal and private student loans owed by eligible frontline healthcare workers.
The government moratorium on student loans is set to end at the end of August. The White House says Pres. Biden will give is long-awaited answer to requests for debt forgiveness on Wednesday. He is expected to offer partial cancellations. Advocates like Lindsay want student loan debt for medical workers to be fully expunged with respect to te level of sacrifice they made for the country. It could be argued that no other worker groups were affected by the pandemic like those in the medical field.
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