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Dr Nicole Linder has treated countless COVID-19 patients throughout the pandemic, but thought of a ‘very special patient’ as she spoke to reporters on Thursday, September 9 about the need for more vaccinations by Michiganders.
Linder, who is chief hospitalist for the medical group at OSF St. Francis Hospital in Escanaba, said she had looked after a patient named Kathy for the past three weeks, who had “categorically refused the vaccine ”before contracting COVID-19.
The woman expressed regret upon admission and spent her time in the hospital calling friends and family who, like her, had refused to be vaccinated. Linder said Kathy convinced at least six people to get vaccinated before her condition worsened and she was sent home to spend her final days in hospice care with her family.
“It was too late for her,” Linder said. “Despite everything that could be done for her, she will lose her battle and lose her life. And she’s lively and outgoing and just a wonderful person and that didn’t have to happen. Her family didn’t have to lose her.
Linder shared her patient’s story, with her permission, but provided limited details. She hugged her and said goodbye to her earlier this week, noting that her “death is imminent” and that she wanted to be home with her family when she passed away.
The Upper Peninsula doctor spoke on Thursday about his experience with COVID-19 patients over the past few months, the vast majority of whom have refused to be vaccinated and have fallen seriously ill from a coronavirus infection. In Delta County, where she works, 53% of residents had received a first injection by September 8 and 57% were fully immunized.
“I am tired, my heart broken and I am tired of seeing people suffer needlessly and die from a disease that could have been prevented with a simple, safe and effective vaccine,” Linder said. “I don’t want to see the families of my patients suffer the grief and guilt if they played a role in their family’s decision not to get the vaccine.”
One of the most common reasons she hears for why people don’t get vaccinated is that they “don’t want to inject an untested or foreign substance into their body.”
“I don’t think people realize that if they get sick enough to be hospitalized, they’re going to get injected with a lot of foreign substances and most of them less proven than the COVID vaccine,” he said. she declared. “… I think people are overestimating the effectiveness of the treatments we have for COVID compared to the vaccine.”
Linder noted that full vaccination gives people a 0.001% chance of dying from a breakthrough COVID-19 infection. The available vaccines have been subjected to rigorous testing and offer significant protection against serious illness and death from COVID-19.
Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine has received full approval for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration for people 16 years of age and older. Additional vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson provide similar protection against severe COVID-19 disease and have received emergency use clearance following clinical trials and review by an independent advisory committee of ‘vaccine and disease experts.
“The best treatment for COVID is to never get it in the first place,” Linder said. “There really are no quick fixes, despite what some media figures have led the public to believe.”
As of Tuesday, Sept. 7, about 61% of Michigan residents aged 12 and older had received a first dose of the vaccine and 56.2% had been fully immunized. Vaccination rates remain highest among those 50 and over, with lowest rates coming from adolescents and those in their 20s and 30s.
Vaccines are readily available at local pharmacies, health systems, clinics, and health departments. To find a vaccine near you, visit the Michigan COVID-19 vaccine website or go to VaccineFinder.org.
Learn more about MLive:
Weighing the risks of COVID vaccines against the risk of the COVID virus
Michigan researchers estimate combination vaccination and natural immunity rate
COVID outbreaks in schools quadruple, total number of clusters climbs 18% in Michigan
What we know at this stage about natural immunity to COVID-19
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