One doctor’s COVID story: ‘I fear what it would have been like had I not had a vaccine’

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Wednesday, July 28, 2021

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One doctor’s COVID story: ‘I fear what it would have been like had I not had a vaccine’

Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

Dr. Mark James of the St. Tammany Physicians Network’s Folsom clinic is still feeling the ill effects of COVID-19 two months after contracting a ‘breakthrough’ case of the virus despite having been previously vaccinated. ‘I fear what it would have been like had I not had a vaccine,’ Dr. James said. ‘… I’m afraid if I hadn’t had the vaccine, I wouldn’t be having this conversation.’ (Photo by Tim San Fillippo / STHS)

For Dr. Mark James, the calculus wasn’t that difficult. He’s older. He’s got underlying health conditions. He was basically a COVID statistic waiting to happen.

So, when Pfizer’s two-shot COVID-19 vaccine was made available to him in December, the family physician at the St. Tammany Physicians Network’s Folsom clinic rolled up his sleeve and took it.

Some six months later, Dr. James became one of the fewer than 8% of fully vaccinated people to contract a so-called “breakthrough case” of COVID-19.

Rather than shaking his fist at the cosmos, however, he’s thankful for what protection the vaccine provided him. He’s also sharing his story in hopes it serves as a cautionary tale to those who have yet to get their shot.

“I fear what it would have been like had I not had a vaccine,” Dr. James said. “I’m 65, overweight, high blood pressure, so I have some risks. I’m afraid if I hadn’t had the vaccine, I wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

While news of vaccinated people contracting COVID has raised eyebrows in some quarters, health experts say the vaccines are doing their job and they’re doing it well.

“The important thing to remember here is that the vaccine isn’t necessarily designed solely to stop infections entirely,” said Dr. Mike Hill, infectious disease specialist at St. Tammany Health System. “If it does, that’s great. But first and foremost, it’s intended to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death from the virus. By and large, it’s doing that.”

The numbers back up that statement. Statewide figures show that, of those hospitalized for COVID-19, 11% have been vaccinated and 89% have been unvaccinated. At St. Tammany Health System, those figures since July 1 are more like 14% vaccinated and 86% unvaccinated.

 

This stuff is real. ... Folks need to rethink this and do something that’s not only good for themselves but also for the community and their family."

-- Dr. Mark James of the St. Tammany Physicians Network's Folsom clinic

Either way, they paint a clear picture: If you’ve been vaccinated, you are much more protected against contracting a case of COVID serious enough to land you in a hospital bed.

“I like those odds,” Dr. Hill said. “I’ll take those odds any day.”

For Dr. James, it all started on the July 4th weekend when his daughter, then in the middle of a move, came to stay with him and his wife for a few days. Not long into her visit, his daughter developed a fever. A test confirmed it was COVID.

As has become common since the emergence of the Delta variant of the virus, which is estimated to be 250 times more contagious than the previous variant, it went through his household like wildfire.

“Eight days later, I had fever, cough, headache, muscle aches. I just felt terrible,” Dr. James said.  

He got tested. It was COVID. His wife got tested. She had it, too.

“She had no symptoms at all,” he said. “It took me about two weeks at home to get to where I would be able to even think about going back to work.”

He’s COVID-free now and has returned to work. Still, even two months later, he doesn’t quite feel like his old self yet.

“This stuff is real,” Dr. James said. “I’m still a month out and I’m not well at this point. I’m still coughing and fatigued.”

Asked what he would say to those concerned about the vaccine’s safety, he pointed out that more than 163 million Americans have been fully vaccinated since December and that serious side effects – that is, those more severe than a sore arm and other temporary discomforts that indicate the vaccine is working – are exceedingly rare.

“We’ve got 52 people with COVID in our hospital, and we had two die yesterday,” he said this week before the COVID inpatient number at the health system’s Covington hospital surged to 67 Wednesday morning. “And a lot of these folks are young people now, so folks need to rethink this and do something that’s not only good for themselves but also for the community and their family.

“The risks of the vaccine are so miniscule compared to the risks of the illness. We all need to get vaccinated.”

 


St. Tammany Health System continues to administer COVID-19 vaccines by appointment at its Express Care clinic in Covington. Appointments should be made via the free MyChart app or by calling (985) 898-4001.

 

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