American doctors and families get COVID-19 despite safeguards

Washington-Surgeon General Bibek Mercy has been infected with COVID-19 on Friday, even though he and his young family have done their best to prevent the infection by taking vaccinations and other precautions. Was announced.

An American doctor said on Twitter: I felt it. It can also cause shame. Many people think you must have been careless about getting sick. Our safety measures mitigate risks, but they cannot be ruled out. I can’t do anything. “

With new cases and hospitalizations plummeting and deaths finally beginning to decline, the Mercy family’s match with COVID calls attention to the true risk of the virus, which many expect to eventually leave. increase.

Mercy, who regularly attends the White House’s COVID task force briefing, said he and his wife, doctor and political activist Dr. Alice Chen had mild symptoms. She had headaches and malaise and said he was dealing with muscle aches, chills and sore throats.

“Thankfully, our breathing is fine,” he writes.

Mercy, his wife, and their five-year-old son have been vaccinated and boosted. Their 4-year-old daughter is too young to be vaccinated.

The children are coping, Mercy wrote.

“His daughter who first tested positive is okay,” he said. “The fever is starting to improve. She’s still crowded, coughing and hoarse, but thankfully she’s still smiling and enjoying arts and crafts.”

“Our son has a runny nose and a low-grade fever, but otherwise he eats, drinks, plays with his sister, and watches his favorite cartoons,” Mercy added.

“At home we’re all sick and chaotic, but we don’t want to navigate this with anyone other than Alice,” he said.

Mercy did not attend the White House COVID briefing on Wednesday. The White House said she hadn’t had recent contact with President Joe Biden and COVID wasn’t the reason Mercy didn’t attend the briefing.

As Surgeon General, Mercy called early on false and disinformation about COVID and urged Americans to follow tested public health guidance and be vaccinated and encouraged.

The illness of him and his family shows the ruthless efficiency of the Omicron variant, which has a series of mutations that enhance its ability to evade the vaccine. However, government officials have shown that the data clearly show that fully vaccinated people have substantial protection against severe illness and hospitalization, and for those who have taken booster shots. Says that resistance to getting sick is even greater.

Unvaccinated people are much more likely to get sick, hospitalized, or die, but Omicron waves have seen many vaccinated people also get infected. rice field. It caused confusion in family and work routines and increased the burden on crowded hospitals.

Mercy said his confidence in the vaccine remained unwavering.

“One of the main sources of peace of mind for us is that we and our son are being fooled / boosted,” he writes. “Vaccines are very effective in saving our lives and keeping us away from the hospital. As parents, even if we get infected, we can take care of our children. I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to know. “

Mercy is said to have joined Biden’s transition team as co-chair of the Coronavirus Advisory Board and enjoyed a close personal relationship with the President. His trademark is a soft, empathetic style that speaks in public. Even before the pandemic, he warned of the sacrifice of American loneliness.

Mercy’s family has roots in India, but when he was young he lived in Miami. His father had a clinic where his parents worked. His son spends the weekend helping out, where he says he discovered the art of healing.

On Friday, Mercy tried to protect himself but comfort those who were still ill.

“Do everything you can and don’t hit yourself, even if you get COVID-19 anyway,” he writes. “Many of us are doing our best to do our best, and don’t assume that the sick are careless. We don’t know the situation of the people. They say we You may not be able to protect yourself in the way you can. “