I’m a doctor still treating COVID patients. I’m getting the booster

“Déjà vu, not again,” was my first thought when, as a front-line physician, I recently admitted a patient struggling to breathe with COVID-19.

It had been at least a year since I saw someone who had a CT scan as bad as his, with inflammation ravaging every part of his previously healthy lungs. And it had been quite some time since I had a patient with COVID-19 decompensate as quickly, within hours requiring 60 liters per minute of 100% pure oxygen to stay alive (for perspective, people with home oxygen are often only requiring 2 liters per minute of 28% oxygen).

Thankfully, since the middle of last year, very sick patients dying from COVID-19 has been much rarer. The pandemic is over and the nation has moved on. However, with the latest COVID-19 variants, infections, hospitalizations and, yes, deaths are on the rise. We are nowhere near the time when we saw more than 1 million Americans die from the virus, but we cannot again let our guard down.

The Food and Drug Administration has just approved a new booster shot. It is vital that we use this tool and get boosted to avoid further serious illness and protect the vulnerable.

We know vaccines work. But when should we get COVID boosters?

This summer and fall, it seems like we all know someone who developed an infection from COVID-19 (either for the first time or a re-infection). Even first lady Jill Biden just came down with it this month.

That’s because our immunities wane and the virus continues to mutate, with names that contain a colorful mix of letters and numbers like EG.5, FL.1.5.1 and BA.2.86. Chances are that the people you know recovered from the virus after a few days of fever and weakness.

But not so hidden to those who work in hospitals is the slow, disturbing creep of very sick patients. Hospitalizations have been on the rise – again, nowhere near 2021 – but definitely an upward trend week to week.

My patient was only partially vaccinated, but we know with overwhelming data that a completed set of COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters dramatically reduce the risk of serious morbidity and death.

Vaccine science isn’t up for debate.Joe Rogan, RFK Jr. don’t get it.

Yes, you can still catch COVID-19 while vaccinated, but studies have shown that in addition to the health benefits for yourself, vaccinations do indeed reduce transmission to others. This is so important for the vulnerable among us – think of our grandmothers, grandfathers, asthmatics, the immunocompromised and those with cancer. The new booster just announced will protect against circulating variants, and thus provide the best protection for these susceptible populations.

Who should get the latest COVID vaccine?

These are benefits that can be gained by virtually everyone, protecting Americans from young to old. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that everyone ages 6 months and up get this new booster shot, including pregnant people.

We can all do our part to shield not just ourselves but also our loved ones from this sickness.

Even those who have had COVID-19 will benefit, as prior infection does not preclude another infection. I’ve had patients sick with COVID-19 a second and even third time. If you’ve recently had the virus, experts recommend waiting about three months since your infection.

DeSantis discourages COVID vaccine:DeSantis goes anti-vax on new COVID booster and fails his people.

I feel like a broken record for advocating for vaccinations and boosters again, for testing when feeling ill and for isolating from the elderly when positive. But family members of patients still argue with me that the vaccinations are conspiracies, even while their loved ones are surviving on oxygen.

I even continue to receive written letters calling me nasty names for recommending vaccinations. But I will continue to support the science and public health. If you have a loved one who doesn’t, consider gently trying to convince them for their health and the health of those around them. Science and logic still may win in the end.

We have certainly come a long way from the overflowing hospitals and morgues of 2020-21, and we have learned to live with the virus. But I can’t shake this sense of déjà vu whenever I treat another hospitalized COVID-19 patient. Get the new booster if you’re able to so that we don’t repeat the worst months of the pandemic.

Dr. Thomas K. Lew is an assistant clinical professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and an attending physician of Hospital Medicine at Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley. All expressed opinions are his own. Follow him on X: @ThomasLewMD