It was early on the morning of Dec. 15 at the University of Texas Medical Branch, where I have worked as an infectious disease physician for the past 31 years. As cameras flashed, a UPS delivery truck rolled onto the hospital ramp with our first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine. Tears rolled down my cheeks.
It was a bittersweet day. Here we were, about to receive a vaccine that is meant to be our last chance to end the horrible COVID-19 pandemic and return to normal life. But my mind was flooded with the memories of my wife, Nisha, who lost her life this summer to COVID-19.
She fought a valiant battle. The entire medical team applied every medical advance they had to offer — remdesivir, corticosteroids, convalescent plasma, mechanical ventilation and, finally, extracorporeal membrane oxygen. This was to no avail as I watched each therapy fail.
When she passed away, the entire medical team felt terrible guilt for letting me down. It was not their fault. After all, I had been part of several medical teams at UTMB that have worked furiously to battle this pandemic in our community. As director of Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology, my staff has worked intensely to develop procedures and provide training to reduce COVID-19 exposure, work with the supply chain to ensure availability of personal protective equipment, develop new procedures to reprocess scarce N95 respiratory masks and eye shields, develop visitation and employee screening policies and conduct contact tracing of infected employees, among many other duties.
For me, all that came to a screeching halt with my wife’s illness.
After her passing, I went into mourning and soul-searching. However, my mourning did not last long. About two months ago, the president of UTMB, Dr. Ben Raimer, called me to see if I would be willing to co-chair a task force to prepare our university to provide the soon-to-be-available COVID-19 vaccines to our more than 16,000 employees and students and our community. This was not just a demonstration of his faith in my ability; he knew this would provide some meaning to my work.
I set up about creating a team that included members from several important departments, and we worked hard to be ready for Dec. 15. Within a few days, we have now vaccinated hundreds of our employees, and soon we will be able to give vaccine to others.
I got my shot on the first day. It was not just for me. It was for my wife. It was for my colleagues at work. It was for my family. And it was for my friends and my neighborhood.
We know the COVID-19 vaccines have been developed with the best science available and have passed the careful scrutiny of regulators. I have conducted many vaccine trials in children and adults during my career and, without fail, when vaccines have been approved for use, they have all led to reduction or almost complete elimination of the disease. As an infectious disease physician, I would be more than happy to have my job eliminated if we could prevent all infectious diseases with vaccines.
Sadly, my wife could not benefit from the COVID-19 vaccine, but moving forward, let there be no more deaths or disruption of lives due to this pandemic. Get the vaccine when it is available to you. If you are sure you do not want the vaccine or if you are unsure, please speak with someone who has been hospitalized due to COVID-19 or who has lost a loved one to the pandemic before you make up your mind.
Please follow the vaccine science and the advice of health care professionals. Let the vaccine offer us fresh hope for this Christmas and the New Year of 2021.
Patel is director of Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
"Opinion" - Google News
December 26, 2020 at 04:00PM
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Opinion: The COVID-19 vaccine came too late for my wife, but it offers me hope - Houston Chronicle
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