Clovis anti-vaxxer nearly dies from COVID. His view now should convince any skeptics

The simple words of a Clovis anti-vaxxer speak volumes.

“I was an anti-vaxxer,” recalls Sean Harrell of getting vaccinated for COVID. His point of view? ”I’m not getting this shot. I don’t know what’s in it. I am not putting something in my body that I don’t know what is in it.’”

But then he got the virus, and endured the illness and a month-long stay in the hospital.

“Everyone says my body, my choice. I was the same way,” Sean Harrell said to Bee staff writer Carmen Kohlruss. “But if I could go back in time, I would choose differently because of everything my family and I went through. I personally suggest everyone who can safely get vaccinated do so.”

Sean Harrell and his twin brother Shane celebrated their 47th birthdays on Monday. Shane also contracted the illness, though his case was less dire.

Shane recalled watching his brother in the hospital fighting for his life. “Probably the worst thing I have ever seen,” is how Shane put it, wiping away tears as he shared the memory.

Their cautionary tale hits home because they are locals whose simple words pack a punch.

Said Sean of his hospital stay: “Once I was told that I had been close to dying, but that I was OK, I felt a calmness and sense of relief that I was past the bad part. Everyone told me to keep fighting, and that’s what I did.”

Said Shane of those who deny the deathly implications of COVID: “A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, it’s no big deal. It’s just a cold. I had a cough.’ Well that’s fine. That was you. But there’s other people that wish they had a cough. They died.”

Hospitals jammed

A survivor’s tale cannot be dismissed. Nor can the impact to Valley hospitals right now, where the emergency rooms are crammed with unvaccinated people sick with COVID.

On Friday the state placed San Joaquin Valley hospitals into surge mode. That means that acute-care hospitals from Stockton to Bakersfield had less than 10% of ICU beds available.

Bee staff writer Tim Sheehan reported that hospitals across the region have been forced to transfer intensive-care patients to medical centers as far away as Woodland and Watsonville — not because the more distant facilities provide greater care, but just to make room for other critically ill patients.

Elective surgeries are being postponed. Doctors are having to make hard choices of who to see first.

What is the best way to ease the pressure on the hospitals? Wear a face mask, especially in indoor settings and particularly if you have not been vaccinated. “We’re begging you” is how Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer, put it.

Vaccine responsibility

That Fresno County’s public health officer, who only cares about the physical well-being of others, has to resort to begging is ludicrous.

Much of the argument against vaccines and mask wearing has couched in personal freedom. But there is another equally important side to that debate. Here it is, spelled out: R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y.

One can choose to be unvaccinated like Sean Harrell. But that means accepting the responsibility that comes with it. Sean infected his brother Shane. He did not mean to, but his irresponsible decision to go to Las Vegas as an unvaccinated person ultimately caused his brother to get sick.

If one is going to stay unvaccinated, one outcome is staying home, all the time. One cannot live as before the pandemic, like nothing has changed. There should be no going to restaurants, movies or sporting events.

Or, if one does go out, mask wearing is a must. Keep your germs to yourself.

Sean and Shane Harrell are to be commended for trying to scare the rest of the unvaccinated straight. Are they listening?

There is no freedom without responsibility. Put another way, for those who want freedom, you must act responsibly. It really is as simple as that. Otherwise, COVID just laughs at the continuing foolishness.