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REAL PEOPLE. REAL STORIES.
REAL INFORMATION.

HOW HAS COVID AFFECTED YOU?

SHARE YOUR STORY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Since early 2020, we have all suffered the tremendous impact of COVID-19 (hereafter "COVID"). Unfortunately, COVID is here to stay.

We see the statistics, but often miss the total impact that COVID is having on our daily lives. COVID may not only impact our health but also our social traditions, social and developmental norms, our jobs, socioeconomic and mental health.

If you or a family member has been impacted by COVID and would like to share your story, we will review it for placement on our educational web portal, The Voices of COVID.

ABOUT THE VOICES OF COVID

The Voices of COVID is brought to you as an educational initiative of Novavax Advocacy. This web portal will house real stories of people like you who represent many of the unheard "voices" or stories of COVID that may be of great service to others in a peer-to-peer fashion. These might be Voices of loss, grief, anger, learnings, experience, and advice – perhaps even some stories of hope.

"Voices" is a place to share these stories to enlighten and encourage others to recognize the realities of the long-term effects related to COVID. It is also a place where we will provide credible, educational resources from leading scientific, academic, and consumer vaccine organizations in one location for easy access by the public.

Share your COVID story here.

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YOUR CHALLENGES *

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Novavax will use your email address collected on this site only to inform you if/when your submission will be featured on this site. We will delete your email address one year after you submit your story. For more information about our privacy practices, please view our Privacy Policy.

My name is Jane, I live in Connecticut with my husband, Tom. We have two grown daughters currently living away at college. My husband had triple bypass surgery a few years ago, so we were always very vigilant about following COVID safety protocol and getting all of our vaccines and boosters. We were so careful, I thought we were safe. But somehow, my husband got sick. At first, we thought—hoped—it was a cold. He had some congestion and a slight fever. We immediately had him take a rapid test at home which came out positive, and then another at the doctor's office, positive as well. We were panicked. With his cardiac history and previous surgery, he was very high risk. His symptoms progressed quickly. He developed breathing problems and before we knew it, he was in the hospital on a ventilator. I couldn't believe what was happening. Telling my daughters the news was awful. We weren't permitted to visit him, but his nurses were amazing and helped us connect with him. They would hold the phone in front of him so we could FaceTime. Seeing him like that and not being able to be with him was heartbreaking, but we wanted him to hear our voices. It was like this for weeks. We lived in a nightmare.

My biggest fear was that we would lose him—my biggest challenge was hiding this fear from my daughters. On top of that was the struggle of dealing with the cost. Tom runs a painting contracting business which was pretty much shut down during the pandemic, so we were already dipping into our retirement savings. I didn't expect the money to run out so quickly.

Thankfully, the hospital staff was amazing and helped me deal with the insurance company. They really understood our pain and did everything they could to help us. His cardiologist also called me frequently to reassure me that because of his surgery, his heart was going to be strong enough to survive this. When the nurse called to tell us he was awake, I was absolutely overwhelmed. I actually dropped the phone and cried. After all those tears of heartbreak, we were now crying tears of relief.

My advice to others is to talk to your doctor about getting vaccinated and staying up to date with boosters. His doctors told us if he hadn't been up to date with his COVID-19 vaccinations, he probably would not have survived. To those facing COVID, my advice would be fight. Get treatment as soon as your symptoms start. Educate yourself on treatment options and proactively communicate with your healthcare providers. Let them know exactly what you need and work out a communication system so you can “be” with your loved one. My husband actually remembered bits of what we told him during our FaceTimes. He was unconscious, but he was still there. We fought to be with him, and he fought his way out. This is a brutal virus. You have to be just as tough.

JANE, 52Connecticut