Health Experts Say Getting the Vaccine is ‘About Others, Not You’

Basin PBS held a townhall last night with local heath care leaders to talk about the surge of COVID-19.

According to NewsWest 9, the discussion centered around hospital capacity, the surge in cases recently with the Delta variant, and the issue of people still not getting vaccinated.

"With this surge, we have a vaccine available," said Dr. Rohith Saravanan, Chief Medical Officer at Odessa Regional Medical Center. "The vaccine has been around for more than 8-9 months, so that is in the community's hand to really figure out how long this is going to last."

With all the unvaccinated people getting infected, the possibility for another variant developing is a very good possibility, but for now the Delta variant is the dominant strain in the area which could have been avoided if the majority of the community got vaccinated.

"We would not be dealing with the delta variant critical crisis that we’re dealing with right now if 70-80% of our population had been vaccinated before it began," said Dr. Larry Wilson, Chief Medical Officer at Midland Memorial Hospital. "Now it’s burning so brightly that I think we need 80 or 90% vaccinated."

The best response came from critical care physician Dr. Alejandra Garcia at Medical Center Hospital.

"I think it’s about personal responsibility and accountability for your decisions," said Garcia. "We have to to start thinking about our communities and stop thinking about ourselves. Vaccination is not about you. It’s about the people around you. It’s about your community."

So with that in mind, just get the vaccine. I have had both shots and completed them in April and I have not grown an extra appendage, or had any adverse effects from it, so it is safe and the long term results are that you and your family will not die from this highly contagious disease.

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