Message from Councilman Matt Adams | November 23, 2021
We know a lot more now about COVID-19 than we did when the global pandemic reached our shores in March 2020.
Science has given us amazing tools to fight the virus with vaccines and therapeutics. Broader categories of Americans are now eligible for vaccination after FDA approval for elementary school-aged children in recent weeks. There is a gradual sense that life is slowly getting back to normal.
Yet, people are still getting infected. People are still getting sick. Unfortunately, although it is a lower rate than before, people are still dying.
As we enter the winter months where most of our activities have moved indoors, and we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, now is not the time to let our collective guard down. Let’s continue with common sense efforts to curb the spread of this terrible disease.
Take it from me: As I write this, I am a fully-vaccinated, healthy 39-year-old adult that is in isolation at home, coming off my own personal bout with COVID-19.
I cannot say where I picked up the virus, but I recently returned from some work-related travel on the west coast. Other than to present to an auditorium of masked conference attendees and eat meals, I was constantly masked indoors and frequently sanitized my hands. I thought I was being very careful.
Yet, a few days after I returned home, I noticed that I had a runny nose. As someone who is fairly OCD and, who by the nature of my job, the public office that I hold, and the fact that I have three school-aged children, I keep over-the-counter rapid COVID-19 antigen self-tests in my medicine cabinet. So, when I began to experience symptoms, I swabbed my nose. To my surprise, I was positive, and that result was later confirmed by my doctor.
It has been no picnic. If not for the fact I am vaccinated, my doctor said, my bout with the virus would have been much worse.
COVID-19, at its core, is an inflammatory disease. It is deadly because it harms healthy tissues in the body. For people with preexisting conditions, those tissues are already compromised, and COVID-19 infection is particularly dangerous. Symptoms are not the same for everyone. For many, respiratory symptoms develop because of the sheer amount of respiratory tissue in the body.
The onset of my symptoms was progressive. A mild runny nose gave way to postnasal drip, intense sinus pressure, and headaches. Gastrointestinal symptoms developed around Day 3. All the while, there was a strong level of fatigue and mental fog. However, I did not have congestion in my lungs, as has been reported in a large percentage of COVID-19 cases. After a day of not being able to lift my head off my pillow, my doctor prescribed an injected steroid therapy and an intravenous monoclonal antibody drug, administered in a local area hospital emergency room. The positive effects from that treatment were almost instant. I’m happy to report that I’m on the mend.
There’s no one approach to mitigating the spread of the virus. My infection is a shining example of just that. Yet, when we all thoughtfully do our part, we can slow down the spread of infection and decrease the severity. Each of us must do our part.
As the weather forces us back inside, let’s all remember to mask up, stay socially distant, and practice good hand hygiene. When gathering around the holidays with friends and family, test yourself and encourage your loved ones.
For those not vaccinated, I encourage you to talk to your doctor. I struck up a conversation with a nurse during my few hours in the hospital to receive treatment, and she reported that almost universally, all serious COVID-19 cases involve the unvaccinated.
That means the vaccines are doing their job.
While breakthrough cases of COVID-19 like mine will continue to occur, the virus is held at bay from the immune support that the vaccine provides. As cases become more manageable and treatable, the opportunity for the virus to mutate and spread decreases. Stated simply, the virus runs out of places to hide.
I ask that you look past the pandemic fatigue and use what we have learned to keep safe.
In this community, in particular, we have so much to be grateful for. That includes how much we have come to learn about COVID-19 since this ordeal started. Let’s employ those lessons in our daily lives to finally beat this pandemic.
Be well, and have a wonderful holiday season safely surrounded by the ones you love!
