Doctors recall the harrowing first days of the pandemic
It has been two years since the coronavirus pandemic started and yet the images of doctors and nurses scrambling to treat patients at their crowded hospitals are still seared into the memories of many.
"I think all of us were incredibly nervous and apprehensive," said Dr. Thomas Yadegar, ICU Director at Providence Cedars-Sinai. "We had no idea what was about to hit us."
At the beginning of the pandemic, Yadegar said that he and his fellow health care workers did not know how to treat sick patients constantly flowing into their hospital. However, in the two years that have passed, and while it was terrifying Yadegar ultimately believes the medical world not only learned a significant amount about the virus but about how our bodies interact with other diseases.
"This pandemic has exponentially increased our knowledge of our immune system because this is not only a virus, but it plays havoc with your immune system," he said.
He added that this medical breakthrough could lead to revolutionary treatments for diseases like cancer.
"We can use the knowledge that we've gained to treat cancer in a different way," said Yadegar. "And maybe program our own immune cells to be able to kill our cancer cells as opposed to taking medications."
While the medical world has a grasp of the pandemic, with the introduction of vaccines, boosters and therapeutics leading to minimal viral loads, Yadegar believes that the virus will continue to be to affect people's lives.
"Looking back in the past two years, there's been spikes in the summer months and a much larger one in the winter months," he said. "So that's why if you're going to get your booster and if you're high risk, you should definitely get your booster."
Despite COVID being here to stay, Yadegear is full of optimism for the future.
"We've learned so much about it and I think if we continue to do and make our decisions based on fact and science and not let fear, speculation and politics get in the middle of our public health decisions," he said. "I think we have a bright future."
