"For the first two days, I lay in my hospital bed too weak to even look at my phone which lay next to me. I spiked fevers every day; each fever prompted Tylenol, large IV bags of fluids to prevent dehydration, and yet another blood draw to determine whether I had an infection. I started taking Paxlovid to decrease the chances of more severe Covid."
"As terrible as my experience was, I know I am fortunate. Although the city has shuttered free testing sites and stopped distributing free Covid tests, medical professionals continue to take Covid seriously. While the federal Food and Drug Administration restricted the latest Covid vaccine only to people whose medical conditions place them at high risk and those age 65 and older, New York continues to make vaccines available for all."
Last month I spent nearly five days at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan with severe Covid-19. Because I am immunocompromised, viral infection increases my risk of bacterial pneumonia. I experienced daily fevers, weakness, vomiting, poor appetite, and required intravenous hydration, blood draws, imaging, and Paxlovid. Chest X-ray and CT showed no pneumonia, and by day four I could sit up, read, and keep down protein shakes. The city has closed free testing sites but medical professionals still take Covid seriously. The FDA limited the latest vaccine to high-risk people and those 65+, and some states and prisons have used that restriction to limit access.
Read at The Nation
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