COVID-19 perspective from an ED doctor in New York City
Amanda Smith, MD, an ED doctor at Staten Island University Hospital in New York, says she’s sensing a “slow wave coming” when it comes to the Delta variant. The mom of three kids (she has 10-year-old twins and a 12-year-old) thinks often of the first signs of COVID-19 in 2020 and hopes that there won’t be a repeat surge like the initial one in New York City.
It’s hard not to feel frustrated: “I’m annoyed about the Delta variant. Of course, I’ve experienced the ‘I’m not getting the vaccine’ argument, and I’ve been at this long enough that I’m able to compartmentalize my own feelings, but I’m worn down, and I’m aware that I have compassion fatigue. When people complain about their COVID-19 symptoms and say things like ‘If I knew I would feel this horrible, I would have gotten the vaccine,’ I can’t help but feel that this was avoidable. It’s hard to talk to those people. I want to say ‘600,000 dead people weren’t enough to get vaccinated?’ ”
The people avoiding the vaccine: “There are the absolute deniers who will never get vaccinated and aren’t going to change their minds. Then there are the people who feel invincible, and then there are the folks who think that COVID-19 isn’t that bad, it’s just like the flu, it’s only old people dying and they’re not getting information from an appropriate source. It’s not the flu, it does kill you. Delta kills younger people, and it’s very easy to spread. Every one person who was infected with the original strain could infect two to three others. The Delta variant can infect 8-9, and measles, at 13, is the most contagious, so we need to keep reminding people about this.”
It’s not just about you: “Vaccination campaigns were never about the individual. We live together in a civilized society, and the vaccine is something you do for each other. People don’t understand the importance of breaking the chain of transmission and doing this to help each other and eradicate the spread. I just don’t understand what happened to us that we forgot this.”
A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.