Dunbar pharmacist hopes community puts vaccine hesitancy aside

COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb in Florida. Lee Health as of Tuesday had 321 patients isolated in its hospitals and just 4% of its ICU beds available.

Its highest number of hospitalizations was 372 on July 20, 2020.

Are the high numbers driving people to get vaccinated?

Not yet, and certainly not like we saw when the vaccines first became available, but some people are finding the surge in cases a good reason to finally get a shot in the arm.

Jeremy Brown of Fort Myers said his experience fighting the virus finally convinced him it was time. Hesitancy and misinformation kept him from getting the vaccine before.

“I would say definitely just being a little ignorant and kind of following the trends, just the whole COVID hoax, kind of, and it wasn’t until I actually tested positive for COVID and missed out on a lot of business to where I decided COVID is real,” he said.

He caught the delta variant in mid-July and the symptoms knocked him off his feet.

“Fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, like absolutely terrible, so something that I definitely don’t want to experience again.”

So he got the vaccine Tuesday and said he’s lucky he got the chance.

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