I was all the time able to say sure to the COVID-19 vaccine. I’d been following its growth from the very starting of the pandemic and mentioned, time and again, that I’d fortunately get vaccinated. Working in vital care throughout the first lethal wave of the virus, my crew and I had yearned for any reduction from the frustration and sorrow we felt. We lived within the fixed presence of dying and loss, treating sufferers with out remedy choices whereas dwelling in worry of contracting the virus ourselves.
We would have liked the hope a COVID vaccine may ship. When my employer, Northwell Well being, requested for volunteers to get the shot on day one, I stepped ahead to say, “Sure.”
It ended up being a milestone within the historical past of the pandemic. Within the first yr they had been out there, vaccines saved at least 19 million lives around the globe. Mine could have been among the many first.
Later, some individuals would say I’d been used, coerced, even paid. However getting the primary COVID-19 vaccine outdoors of a medical trial was not a mistake. The one mistake was considering that, after the injection, I’d be going instantly again to work.
The day had different plans. There was a press convention, and a whirlwind of interviews, then talking engagements. Once I mentioned, “Sure,” to the vaccine, I unknowingly opened my eyes to a world of potentialities and advocacy.
Danger, for instance, seems totally different to me now.
Greater than 6.3 million individuals worldwide have died from COVID-19 up to now. As of this writing, nearly 549 million individuals have been recognized with it. That’s the place danger and true hazard exist–in individuals eschewing information and the evidence-based recommendation of medical professionals in favor of anger and falsehoods and worry, usually fomented on-line.
Saying sure additionally gave me a renewed sense of accountability. I’ve heard so usually that COVID-19 has pulled again the curtain on well being inequities that I typically fear we’ll settle for these inequalities as an entrenched incontrovertible fact that we can not undo. I take critically the chance I’ve to assist public well being in underserved communities and communities of colour. That is my area; I’m a Black immigrant from Jamaica who got here to this nation to change into a nurse.
For some, it’s uncomfortable to debate the truth that too many communities of colour in the US lack entry to acceptable well being and medical care. Let’s talk about it anyway. Remodeling well being care deserts into wholesome, sturdy communities with inexpensive, high-quality assets is an enormous problem. We could not discover a good resolution nevertheless it’s our accountability to say sure to conversations about how we are able to take away obstacles and inequities in our well being care system.
Sandra Lindsay waves to spectators throughout a parade honoring important employees for his or her efforts all through the COVID-19 pandemic, July 7, 2021, in New York.
John Minchillo—AP
I felt empowered once I mentioned sure to the COVID-19 vaccine—it was greater than a dose of antibodies. It represented a hopeful, new starting. That second has been a present, a chance to develop and increase my skilled objective. I definitely didn’t predict receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom. However In some methods, it was much less of a alternative than it was a seamless transition. Possibly my having mentioned, “Sure,” will encourage others to do the identical.
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