Physician Profiles
Arm Yourself: Dr. Sundar’s COVID-19 Story
A message from Dr. Shobhita Sundar, Southcoast Physicians Group Internal Medicine, Fall River, on how to arm yourself against COVID-19:
As a Southcoast Health physician, I was so happy when earlier this year we started vaccinating the public full force. The next few months, I saw a drop in the number of positive cases to the point where there were very few during April and May. This was very heartening. Life almost returned back to a new normal. In the last few weeks, though, I am seeing COVID-19 infections rise again. This is a disturbing trend.
I still remember Monday, March 23, 2020 – the day that sadly, I had to go home. My patient visits for the afternoon were cancelled, and my medical office shut down. Using telemedicine and doing phone consults, we kept going. We’ve come so far since the worst of the pandemic. We’ve been able to begin opening our community back up – with life starting to return to normal for those who are vaccinated. Sadly though, with the new Delta variant spreading, we risk going back in time, to a time of more restrictions, less freedom. Imagine how safe we’d all be if 70% or more of us were vaccinated.
Time and time again, in the past 100 years, we’ve been able to protect people against deadly diseases such as small pox and polio using safe vaccines. Millions of people have received the COVID-19 vaccine with very minimal side effects reported. Though the vaccines are new in the last year, the science and technology are not. They’ve been in development for many years. Too many of my patients are reluctant to get the vaccine. Thinking about the consequences of this is depressing. We should think of the vaccines as “pearls” – They are a treasure to humanity, if only more of us would realize it.
We all need to act, share the facts and roll up our sleeves to achieve a common goal: immunity against COVID.
Arm Yourself
We are at a crucial moment in human history, and our actions today will help shape the future for so many. Arm yourself with the facts to make an informed decision. Visit www.southcoast.org/covid-19-vaccination to find upcoming vaccination opportunities at Southcoast Health, and please speak to your medical provider if you have questions or concerns. You can also find other places to get vaccinated at www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-vaccination-locations.