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Posted Aug 18, 2021, 3:35 pm

Judy Rich Special to TucsonSentinel.com

Judy Rich, RN, MSN, is the CEO and president of TMC Healthcare, which operates Tucson Medical Center.

We know what people are reading.

We also know what we SEE at Tucson Medical Center.

We see that the vaccines work and that they are safe. We were one of the largest vaccination sites in the community, and saw rare reactions to the vaccine during that process.

Thousands of our staff have been vaccinated, with no negative long-term impact.

On a larger scale, millions of people have been vaccinated for COVID-19, with effects no worse than those of the flu, tetanus or MMR vaccines.

And now we are seeing yet another surge. It is even more difficult this time around because we are seeing more young people and children in the hospital. It is frustrating and heartbreaking because we KNOW this surge could have been prevented. As one of the largest points of care for critically ill COVID patients in the region, we see that a vast majority – 99% - of those hospitalized and seriously ill are unvaccinated.

While we have not seen permanent changes in the health of the vaccinated, we have seen long-term changes in unvaccinated patients who have had COVID – chest pain, difficulty breathing, difficulty concentrating, joint and muscle pain, as well as a loss of taste and smell.

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We know most people don’t see what we see in the hospital. They’re lucky. Because some of the things we have seen with COVID will change us forever.