A DeKalb County police officer is trying to convince skeptical residents to get vaccinated by sharing his near-death experience battling COVID-19.
DeKalb police recently posted a video to its Facebook page where Officer Jason Daniels, a 20-year veteran with the department, talks about his coronavirus hospitalization. He said he contracted COVID-19 in January. He said he thought he could wait it out at first, but he ended up going to the hospital a few days later.
He was quickly admitted to the hospital’s COVID-19 floor, where his symptoms worsened.
“There were times I couldn’t breathe,” he said in the July 26 video. “It got so bad that they had to hook me up to the oxygen tank, and that helped me to sleep. It was very scary for me because I went to sleep some nights not knowing if I would wake up the next day.”
Daniels said his fever broke after his fifth day in the hospital. He was able to go home, but he said his symptoms lingered for weeks.
“It took me about six weeks to get back to some degree of normalcy, which is why I implore everybody to get vaccinated,” Daniels said. “Do it for your family, do it for your coworkers and most importantly, do it for yourself.”
Daniels’ COVID-19 public service announcement is part of the county’s effort to increase vaccination rates in DeKalb. The county made headlines at the end of July by offering $50 gift cards to residents who got vaccinated at county-sponsored events. In addition, DeKalb enlisted two Atlanta Hawks stars to encourage residents to get vaccinated.
DeKalb has recorded nearly 1,000 deaths and about 61,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest county report last Tuesday. DeKalb also recorded a 260% increase in COVID-19 cases during the second half of July compared to the first half.
Credit: DeKalb County Board of Health
Credit: DeKalb County Board of Health
“With the continued dramatic rise in the number of cases and hospitalizations associated with the COVID-19 Delta variant, time is of the essence,” DeKalb District Health Director, Dr. Sandra J. Valenciano, said in a previous news release.
About 45% of DeKalb residents have been fully vaccinated, and another 6% have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the report said.
For more information on getting vaccinated in DeKalb, visit dekalbhealth.net/covid-19-vaccine.
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