“Death is imminent” for a Michigan woman who opposed the COVID-19 vaccination and regretted the decision

Dr. Nicole Linder, who has cared for countless COVID-19 patients throughout the pandemic, spoke with reporters on Thursday, September 9, about the need to increase Michigander vaccination. A very special patient “came to my mind.

Linder, chief hospitalist at OSF St. Francis Hospital Medical Group in Escanava, said he had taken care of a patient named Kathy who “resolutely refused the vaccine” before becoming infected with COVID-19.

The woman expressed regret on admission and called her friends and family who refused to vaccinate at the hospital. According to Linder, Kathy persuaded at least six people to fire before her condition worsened and was sent home to spend the last day in hospice care with her family.

“It was too late for her,” Linder said. “Even though there’s everything she can do for her, she’ll lose the fight and lose her life. And she’s a cheerful, sociable, just wonderful person, and this didn’t have to happen. . Her family didn’t have to lose her. “

Linder shared the story of her patient with her permission, but provided limited details. She hugged her, said goodbye earlier this week, said her “death was imminent,” and said she wanted to stay home with her family when she died.

Doctors on the Upper Peninsula talked about the experience of COVID-19 patients in recent months on Thursday. The majority refused to be vaccinated and became seriously ill due to a coronavirus infection. In Delta County, where she works, 53% of the population had the first injection as of September 8, and 57% had been fully vaccinated.

“I’m tired, painful, tired of seeing people suffer unnecessarily and die of illnesses that could have been prevented with a simple, safe and effective vaccine,” says Linder. I did. “I don’t want to see my patient’s family suffering from this sadness and the guilt of playing a role in the family’s decision not to be vaccinated.”

One of the most common reasons she heard that people weren’t vaccinated was that she didn’t want to inject untested substances or foreign bodies into her body.

“I don’t think people are aware that when they get sick enough to be hospitalized, many foreign bodies are injected, most of which are less proven than the COVID vaccine,” she said. “… I think people overestimate the effectiveness of treatment for COVID compared to vaccines.”

Linder said full vaccination would increase the chances of dying from a breakthrough COVID-19 infection by 0.001%. The vaccines available have undergone rigorous testing and provide significant protection against serious illness and death from COVID-19.

Pfizer’s double-dose vaccine is fully approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for individuals over the age of 16. Additional vaccines by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson provide similar protection against severe COVID-19 disease and are granted an emergency use after clinical trials and reviews by an independent advisory board of vaccine and disease experts. Have received.

“The best cure for COVID is to never get it in the first place,” Linder said. “Even though some media outlets have made the public believe, there is really no miraculous cure.”

As of Tuesday, September 7, approximately 61% of Michigan residents over the age of 12 had been vaccinated for the first time, and 56.2% had been fully vaccinated. Immunization rates remain high among people over the age of 50, with the lowest rates coming from people in their teens, 20s and 30s.

Vaccines are readily available at local pharmacies, health systems, clinics, and health departments.Visit Michigan to find a vaccine near you COVID-19 vaccine website Or go to VaccineFinder.org..

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