We wanted to check in with two doctors — one in Louisiana and another in Missouri, two states hardest hit by Covid outbreaks right now.
Remember earlier this summer when we all thought we were seeing the light at the end of the long, dark Covid tunnel? I thought my daughter Ellie’s wedding marked the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Then the numbers started to tick up and Delta became more than just an airline. Healthcare workers, those once unsung heroes who we started celebrating regularly (I loved hearing the nightly 7 p.m. cacophony from the windows of so many grateful New Yorkers), are now once again in the midst of Covid hell.
We wanted to check in with two doctors — one in Louisiana and another in Missouri, two states hardest hit by Covid outbreaks right now.
“In St. Louis hospitals, things had started to get better,” Dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, an infectious diseases physician at the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis, told us. “We started to feel hope again. Even with the level of burnout and exhaustion, it seemed like better days were coming. And then Delta came, and everything has changed.”
Dr. Ashley Saucier is a pediatric emergency medicine doctor in Louisiana, where only 43 percent of the population is currently vaccinated. She’s been using her YouTube channel and Facebook group to debunk myths about the vaccine, break down complicated Covid facts for parents, and encourage mask-wearing.
They spoke with us about being on the frontlines of this ever-evolving pandemic and at the forefront of the vaccine debate, their emotional wellbeing, and what they’re seeing in their hospitals.
What are things like in your hospital right now?
Dr. Ashley Saucier: People are distrustful of the vaccine and people have pandemic fatigue. Right now, we have low vaccination rates and Louisiana’s very hot summer is driving people indoors — plus this Delta variant. It’s a trifecta of disaster.
Dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis: Toward the end of the last year, hospitals were at capacity, we couldn’t find ventilators. It has that feeling again. It’s quite triggering for people in healthcare because we can’t believe we’re here again. The ICUs are filling up again. You’re at the bedside of people on ventilators who are begging you for a vaccine and don’t understand that it’s too late. I’m having more difficult conversations with family members. It’s shocking that we’re back here again. A year ago, it was very cut-and-dry — older people and those with preexisting risk factors were the ones getting really sick. But things have changed a little bit; we’re seeing younger and younger people getting sick as well. But overwhelmingly, we’re seeing that most people who end up needing to be on oxygen or end up in the ICU are unvaccinated.
Are you seeing breakthrough cases at your hospital?
MHD: I am seeing some breakthrough cases. But we’re not seeing vaccinated people with Covid in the ICU, and that’s consistent with what the CDC is telling us about cases of breakthrough infections.
What are you seeing in kids?
AS: In the past two weeks we’ve seen this surge in the Delta variant in children, and it’s making them quite sick. We’ve admitted more pediatric patients with COVID in the past two weeks than we have at any point in the pandemic. The majority do quite well: They experience nasal congestion, cough, and then can be discharged home. Some are more ill, requiring oxygen or breathing treatments, especially if they have a history of asthma. We have seen quite a bit of COVID pneumonia — sometimes their oxygen levels drop to the point that they need to be on oxygen. Unfortunately, sometimes we do have to fall back to intubation and mechanical ventilation. There have been multiple ICU admissions, not only in this area but throughout our state and surrounding states. Unfortunately, very tragically, there was a pediatric patient with no pre-existing conditions who died in the New Orleans area.
Are these children vaccinated?
AS: The kids we’re seeing in the ER for the most part are unvaccinated because they’re too young. As far as 12 and older, again, they’re mostly unvaccinated. We’re starting to see more older kids getting their first dose, though. So I think parents are heeding the advice of the CDC and health care professionals.
You’re both parents: What’s it like for you as mothers and doctors seeing more kids getting Covid?
AS: School’s starting here and as a parent and a pediatric emergency medicine physician, that’s nerve-racking, but my kids are used to wearing masks and they understand why they need to. Unfortunately, there has been so much inaccurate information about children getting sick from wearing masks. It’s been very disheartening to see the response in many, many people to “unmask our children” and “let our children breathe.” It’s safe: For kids under 12 who can’t get the vaccine, the only other armor we have for them is the mask.
MHD: The only thing keeping any of us sane was the hope that children were doing OK. Now, as a mom of a four-year-old and a one-year-old beginning to see cases in children creep up, it’s devastating.
After a year and a half, how are you holding up mentally and emotionally?
MHD: This is a calling for me. It’s a passion. Having said that, I am human. And every day when I leave the house, I have fear about exposing my babies. I’m worried for my husband, who’s also a physician and works in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit]. I’m tired. I’m exhausted. I worry about my patients. I’m sad to see how ugly we’ve become and how we’ve allowed our opinions to trump community.
Do you find yourself trying to convince people to get vaccinated? Does that take a toll on you?
AS: Unfortunately, there has been so much misinformation circulating about the vaccine. If you come at someone arguing with facts or finger-pointing, you won’t have a good conversation. I deal with the frustrations by educating people — that’s a release for me. Each day I’ve gotten messages saying, “I scheduled my appointments to get my vaccine,” or “I was fearful, thank you for explaining it,” or “I scheduled my teenager to get the vaccine.” I’m always happy to have conversations with people who are willing to have the conversations.
What are you most concerned about going forward?
AS: The thing that I worry about are those people who feel so passionately against the vaccine and masking. We want to get back to normal life, but we can’t do that on our own. We’re all in this together. So if this group continues to push that rhetoric, we will not get to a point of normalcy anytime soon. In Louisiana, unfortunately, I think things are going to get much worse before they get better. Baton Rouge is a big football town and I believe the football season plans as of now include full-capacity stadiums without masks. Unfortunately, I think we’re only at the beginning.
MHD: We know that winter is coming and with it comes all these other respiratory illnesses, and being indoors with a lack of ventilation. I just don’t want to keep seeing people in our hospital beds and my clinic when it’s too late. I’d like to see us be kinder to each other because we still have a long road ahead.
