With the Delta variant surging across the country, already spread-thin health care workers are facing even sicker –and younger – Americans affected by COVID-19 than at the start of the pandemic.
While the exact toll the pandemic will take on essential workers will remain unknown, one thing is clear: The COVID-19 outbreak they’re experiencing right now on the front lines is a far cry from the original strain. They’re scared, exasperated, and crying out for us to pay attention and get vaccinated.
Five health care workers told this news organization about their experiences working the front lines amid the recent surge and what they think needs to happen – fast.
COVID-19 perspective from a paramedic in Connecticut
Michael Battistelli has been an emergency medical services worker for over 20 years and a licensed paramedic in Stratford, Conn., for a decade. He’s also the father of a 5-year-old daughter who isn’t eligible for a vaccination yet. For him, every day has been the same since the start of the pandemic: Surgical mask, N95 mask, face shield, change clothes before going home, and shower as soon as he walks in the door. He’s worried about Delta right now and wants you to be, too.
What keeps him up at night: “It seems like the last time, COVID-19 hit the Pacific Northwest and Northeast first. I hope it’s not the reverse and that it isn’t working its way back up to us here in Connecticut. I’ll add that if we start seeing young people dying, that might be it for me. That might be my final stand as an EMS.”
Why he’s frustrated: “For people to say COVID-19 isn’t real is mind-blowing. I’ve been at this for over a year, and all I think about is how to keep my daughter safe and protect my parents, especially my mom, who is a cancer survivor. When this first started, I brought people into the hospital who thought they would be fine after a day or week in the hospital. They ended up being on ventilators for months – and these were healthy people.”
What he wants to see: “I try not to judge people, but please understand how hard health care workers are working. We’re fatigued and burned out, and we are begging you: Please get vaccinated.”
COVID-19 perspective from an ICU director in Tennessee
Todd Rice, MD, FCCP, is an associate professor of medicine in the division of allergy, pulmonary and critical care at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. While this father of two – ages 15 and 17 – trained for a pandemic, specifically Ebola and H1N1, the sheer volume of young COVID-19 patients in the ICU right now is taking a huge toll on him and his staff.
Why he’s frustrated: “First, there are a group of people that are adamantly against getting vaccinated. It doesn’t matter what we do or say. Second, a lot of people are confused and tell me that they don’t have somebody they trust to answer their questions about the vaccine. Third, some of this is driven by our colleagues: In the last 2 weeks, eight pregnant women with COVID-19 were admitted to our ICU. At least six said that their [obstetrician] told them not to get the vaccine while pregnant. That myth is still out there.”
What’s going on in the ICU: “I want people to know that our unvaccinated infected COVID-19 patients are the sickest patients we take care of. Their condition can change on a dime. We think they’re getting better, and suddenly we turn around and they’re near death or they die in seconds. What’s hard for our staff is that many of these patients have been with us for several weeks, and we get to know them. So when this happens, it hurts us even more because we’ve gotten to know them.”
What we need to do: “While it may take time, we have to talk to vaccine-hesitant people one by one and ask them what questions they have and then provide them with the answers they need. I think the next 6 months is going to be all about getting people who are still movable on this and get them to be comfortable that the vaccine is safe, that we didn’t cut corners. Yes, it was developed faster than anything we’ve ever done before, but that’s because it had to be.”