“I’m sorry, but it’s too late”

Throughout the COVID crisis there have been countless reports of frustrated medical professionals, this new report from the Alabama Media Group is getting a lot of attention today, in large part because of the candid comments from a local doctor.

Dr Brytney Cobia said Monday that all but one of his COVID patients in Alabama had not received the vaccine. The vaccinated patient, she said, just needed some oxygen and should make a full recovery. Some of the rest are dying. “I am admitting healthy young people with very serious COVID infections to the hospital,” Cobia, a hospitalist at Birmingham’s Grandview Medical Center, wrote in a moving Facebook post on Sunday. “One of the last things they do before they are intubated is begging me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them I’m sorry, but it’s too late.”

Alabama has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, which is helping to increase the number of infections and increase hospitalization rates in the state. Avoidable tragedies are increasingly common.

Cobia added, “A few days later when I call the time of death, I hug their family members and tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get it done. immunize and encourage everyone they know to do the same.

“They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color. , they wouldn’t get that sick. They thought it was “just the flu.” But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can’t. So they thank me and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write their death note, and say a little prayer that this loss will save more lives. “

Reflecting on patients who believed in the misinformation, the Alabama doctor – whose accounts have not been independently verified – went on to say: “[A]You really only see their fear and regret. And even though I can walk into the room thinking, “Okay, it’s your fault you did this to yourself,” when I leave the room, I just see one person who is really in pain, and that is. so regrettable for the choice they made. “

I find myself thinking about it a lot in recent weeks. We see so many people making the wrong choice, buying nonsense and rejecting safe and readily available vaccines, followed by the heartbreaking reports that soon follow. And I suspect that some will see these developments and say that those who are suffering do not deserve sympathy.

After all, according to the argument, these people were given the opportunity to do the responsible thing, and they ignored it.

But I don’t blame sick COVID patients, I blame those who lied to them. Those struggling at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham are not powerful figures in the far-right media. They haven’t cooked up some ridiculous conspiracy theories. It was not their idea to politicize a pandemic.

It’s easy to feel sorry for those who get sick after trusting the wrong people.

Update: Some readers have reached out to suggest that I downplay the importance of personal responsibility, so let me clarify: People certainly need to exercise good judgment, especially in the midst of a public health crisis. Those who rely on vaccine rumors on Facebook instead of asking their family doctor for advice are obviously making a terrible mistake.

My most important point, however, is that I make a distinction between crooks and those who fall victim to them.