As the global pandemic continues with mixed results in the United States, there's been a big push to get hold outs to take the vaccine.
On his CNN show, Don Lemon visited a hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana—the same hospital where he was born—to speak with some of the patients currently trying to fight this virus. The staff of Baton Rouge General Hospital - Mid City also described their experiences and recommendations.
Lemon's experience was shared on CNN, and on Twitter.
Lemon wasn't allowed into the wing without full protective equipment. Inside, Lemon interviewed a 53-year-old man named Jim.
Jim and his brother were brought to a different hospital to be treated for the virus. However, that facility didn't have the room, and they were sent to the Mid City campus instead.
Jim's brother was sent home two days prior, but Jim spent some time in the ICU due to the severity of his infection. He's now doing much better.
Jim wasn't an anti-vaccine advocate, but rather "just hadn't had time."
He now regrets his decision and wants to tell other folks who aren't getting the vaccination.
His advice to them was:
"Open your eyes. Take heed to this. This is nothing to play with."
After the interview with Jim, Lemon spoke with one of the doctors about Jim's vaccination views. At this point in the pandemic, we think of the holdouts as buying into conspiracy theories or holding regressive views on science.
However, it's not always the case.
Lemon expressed surprise Jim wasn't an anti-vaxxer and the doctor responded:
"Some people are anti-vaccine. Some people just don't think it's as important."
"They don't think it's going to happen to them, and unfortunately what we're seeing here is that it can happen to anybody."
And it does.
Across the nation more and more stories are coming out about patients regretting not getting the vaccine.
Lemon next spoke with a 40-year-old woman who had gone to the hospital thinking she'd had a heart attack, but was surprised to discover she had been infected.
Once again, she didn't hold anti-vaccine views, but rather thought she was being safe.
She said:
"I wanted to wait, let this first batch go through, see how it worked. But before I got sick, I was thinking about getting vaccinated."
"I didn't make it in time."
Online, people are urging others to get the vaccine, and take precautions if you have to go out.
If things don't take a turn for the worse, these two patients will be scheduled to go home. Despite their harrowing stay in the hospital, it looks like they might be lucky enough to live their lives.
The first they'll likely do it look at where they can get the vaccine.
However not everyone is so lucky. Some people do not survive the virus, and don't get the chance to get it after their hospital stay.
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