Six months and counting; new variants.

It has now been 6 months since I was admitted to the Room 274 in the ICU unit of St. George Regional Hospital.

I can still vividly recall the first few hours. I met with the medical team that would care for me for the next 4 weeks as I entered and emerged from uncharted COVID-19 territory. Since then, I have recovered most of my original pulmonary capacity. I still have shortness of breath which requires the use of supplemental oxygen. I also have developed allergies, and am experiencing general fatigue, muscle aches, and periodic headaches. I am not sure these symptoms can all be attributed to COVID-19, or the fact I am another year older.

I have received the Moderna vaccine. I did experience some general nausea and body discomfort after the second dose. However, I did not see a recovery bump that others have reported after being vaccinated.

In the last 30 days, we have seen the resurgence of COVID-19 in the form of the Delta variant. The variant is targeting the unvaccinated, younger age groups. As with the 1918 flu epidemic, it appears we may be in for a third wave of COVID-19. The virus has demonstrated an uncanny ability to mutate at the expense of the unvaccinated. The unvaccinated portion of our population now are fueling a resurgent virus.

The caregivers in the St. George ICU that saved my life, after a brief reprieve, are now battling to save the lives others who chose not to be vaccinated. I understand the freedom of choice; what I don’t understand is why take the unnecessary risk, when the science is pretty clear.

In my own family of four siblings; two have been vaccinated and two refuse to do so. The two who have been vaccinated are in the older, higher risk category. I recently spoke with some friends who are having similar scenarios, play out in their families. The heart of the issue is not political, but a general uncomfortableness with a vaccine that was rushed to market. In reality, the science underlying the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, and others has been in the work for the past decade. So, the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough had a head start.

Researchers had already made progress developing vaccines for other types of coronaviruses: they applied lessons learned after the 2003 SARS epidemic and the 2012 MERS outbreak. None of the COVID-19 vaccines contain a live virus. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use messenger RNA, or mRNA. The vaccines in essence, give our bodies “instructions” for how to make and fight the harmless spike-shaped proteins that will protect against a COVID-19 infection. While these vaccines use new technology, researchers have been studying them for decades.

I understand why people may be still suspect of the vaccines. But, based on the science, why take the risk for yourselves and your families and in doing so continue to provide fuel for the virus.

In the words of the infamous Dirty Harry movies – Do you fell lucky punk? Trust me, you don’t want to end up in ICU.