Alabama doctor says dying Covid patients ‘beg her for vaccine’ in emotional Facebook post

An Alabama doctor took to Facebook to share the stark reality of treating Covid patients in the largely unvaccinated region that is the Southern United States: Apparently, upon falling gravely ill, they admit they should have gotten the vaccine.

“I’ve made a LOT of progress encouraging people to get vaccinated lately,” wrote Dr. Brytney Cobia, a hospital physician at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham. “Do you want to know how? I’m admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections.”

“One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine,” she continued. “I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late.”

Upon the patient’s passing “a few days later,” Cobia then “hugs their family members” and “tells them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same.”

“They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu’. But they were wrong,” she added. “And they wish they could go back. But they can’t. So they thank me and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write their death note, and say a small prayer that this loss will save more lives.”

“It’s not too late, but some day it might be,” Cobia concluded.

Cobia’s Facebook post has since gone viral — with many anti-vaccination activists doubting the validity of her claims in the comments. Others, however, have come to her defence, asking how why they would bother arguing with an actual doctor.

Currently, Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the country, with only 33.7 percent of the population being fully vaccinated, per AL.com. As a result, Alabama COVID cases and hospitalisations are surging once more.

Hopefully Dr. Cobia’s post will help inspire more Alabamans to get vaccinated.