October 14, 2021

Tom’s Blog: Dead Ends for a Deadly Virus

Central, Clinical Partners, Rural Health

Earlier this fall, my 27-year-old son came home to help us with dog sitting since we were going to be gone for the weekend. He was visiting from Denver and while he was home, he was going to be spending time visiting a close family friend of ours named Jim, who is 75 years old.

My son was notified just a day after he arrived home that one of his colleagues at work had tested positive for COVID, and my son had been exposed. He texted me because he was concerned. He explained that his coworker had been vaccinated so had experienced a breakthrough case, so he was unsure what to do, especially given his plans to visit Jim.

I was able to text him a very reassuring message, telling him that because he was vaccinated, he is very unlikely to become infected and pass it on to Jim. That was really the key message. And even if he was infected, he should be less likely to be infectious with the virus given his vaccinated status.

I also shared with him that Jim was vaccinated, so even if my son was infectious, it would be very unlikely that Jim would get infected. And lastly, even if Jim did get infected at his age, he would be very unlikely to become seriously ill or die because of his vaccination status.

These interlocking dead ends for the virus are what make vaccines so powerful and make it imperative that everyone possible be vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s our way out of this pandemic.

The COVID-19 virus can spread because it has a place to go. We need to work together to give it as many dead ends as possible. If you know someone who is not yet vaccinated, please urge them to do so for their family, friends, coworkers, and themselves.

Tom

Tom Schrup, MD, is the Chief Physician Officer for CentraCare.