Please Consider Getting Vaccinated
Some of our patients have chosen not to get vaccinated at this time. We understand that this is a deeply personal choice, based upon multiple factors. Up until now, you were not ready. However, as your health care providers, we urge you to seriously consider vaccination at this time.
All VMC staff are fully vaccinated. As your healthcare providers, we feel this is important for your care and protection. At this point, over 189 million people in this country are fully vaccinated, as are more than 3.7 billion the world over. Side effects have been rare and mild in comparison to the illness and death caused by Covid-19.
Covid-19 is the deadliest pandemic in the history of the United States. It has killed over 700,000 people. Many more have been hospitalized, had their lives disrupted, and or suffered from debilitating symptoms of post-COVID conditions.
The following conditions make someone more at risk for serious Covid complications, hospitalization, or death. (Some of these may be surprising to you):
o Pregnancy
o Current or former smoker
o Substance use disorder (alcohol, opioids, cocaine)
o Overweight/obesity (BMI 25 or more)
o Diabetes (type 1 and 2)
o Heart disease (hypertension, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, heart failure)
o Atherosclerosis/peripheral vascular disease, stroke, or TIA
o Lung disease (COPD, moderate/severe asthma, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension)
o Kidney disease or Liver disease (fatty liver, cirrhosis)
o Immunocompromise (HIV, on cancer treatment, on immunosuppressant treatment such as steroids, organ transplant recipient)
o Dementia or Down Syndrome
If you are healthy and have not been diagnosed with one of the above conditions, we still urge you to get vaccinated to protect your health. This is because:
o You may have an undiagnosed condition such as cancer, atherosclerosis, or diabetes. This is especially true if it has been a while since you had a full physical with lab tests.
o Even a mild case of Covid can cause an autoimmune response resulting in a post-COVID condition, with long-lasting debilitating symptoms such as fatigue. (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html)
o We feel that any risk of vaccination side effects is far outweighed by the benefit of protecting you from Covid-19 infection.
We urge you to get vaccinated to protect your family and friends. While you may not have any of the above risk factors, someone you love may be very vulnerable, getting the vaccine yourself would help protect them.
We urge you to get vaccinated to protect our community. We have a real chance of controlling this disease if we all do our part to stop the virus. The more people are vaccinated, the less likely Covid will spread. We are all in this together!
