Vaccine brings joy to Kiwi nurse
A Kiwi nurse toiling at the heart of the
Covid-19 pandemic in America says receiving the Pfizer vaccine is ‘‘light’’ amid darkness.
Kawerau-raised Marieke Cannella is an ICU nurse in California where infection rates are exploding.
The 44-year-old received the vaccine last week at her workplace, Stanford Hospital, lining up with other excited doctors, nurses and orderlies.
‘‘It’s bloody fantastic,’’ Cannella told
‘‘My manager sent me down yesterday and I ran downstairs, I was so excited to get my shot.’’
The vaccine felt like a regular flu jab, she said. Her shoulder was a bit sore, but she hadn’t experienced any other side effects so far.
Cannella has been working at Stanford for the past 16 years.
She works in the medical oncology ICU unit, but has recently been exposed to the virus about three or four times.
She said the vaccination alleviated a lot of stress for her.
In California, intensive care units are rapidly filling up as hospitals face an onslaught of new Covid-19 cases – reaching an average of more than
45,000 cases daily.
As of December 23, the state had
1,964,400 coronavirus cases and 23,305
deaths, according to the
‘‘There seems to be no rhyme or reason about how this disease affects people. Why does one 25-year-old end up intubated, sedated and dying from Covid, and another 25-year-old not have symptoms?’’
Cannella said Stanford Hospital’s Covid-19 ICU unit was full and another one has been opened.
The hospital is also being filled up by Covid-19 patients who don’t require ICU care, but need hospital treatment.
Stanford Hospital ICU nurse
‘‘Every day we are hearing we’ve got more coming in, we’ve got more coming in. It’s getting bad.’’
And turning on the TV after work to see people across America refusing to wear masks or denying the scale of the pandemic only made the days harder.
American society had turned
Covid-19 into an political issue, Cannella said. ‘‘For people like myself and my colleagues, it’s not political at all, it’s scary.’’
Cannella said California initially responded quite effectively to the virus, when Governor Gavin Newsom established a ‘‘shelter in place’’ in March, where businesses closed and people were required to stay home.
But when the expected surge of cases didn’t come in April, May or June, restaurants, gyms, and other businesses started to reopen – maybe too much, Cannella said.
Cannella and her husband don’t eat out and don’t see friends.
She sees New Zealand friends breezily enjoying the summer without masks or social distancing.
‘‘I talked to my mum and dad last night, and they said they were off to see a concert.’’
The contrast to America is stark. Her medical colleagues had ‘‘huge admiration’’ for New Zealand’s Covid19 response, she said. ‘‘There’s a lot of people who think things have been way too strict in New Zealand and I just can’t fathom it.’’
‘‘There seems to be no rhyme or reason about how this disease affects people.’’